


Bee Isn't Jealous At All - the Halsey story

by mythomusicians



Series: Main Mythos Aftermath (Bee and Friends :)   ) [2]
Category: Bandom, Halsey (Musician), Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Mermaids, F/M, M/M, Magic, Mermaids, Tulpas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 22:50:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8686408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythomusicians/pseuds/mythomusicians
Summary: A continuation of our Mythological universe, Tyler insists Blurry make friends- with Halsey. Who hangs all over Josh, all the time. But she seems nice, and she invites them to go swimming. It'll be fun, Tyler says. He sure hopes Tyler's right.. Plus, it's a chance to see Joshie shirtless and wet. He can't say no to that.This work is best read after reading our main mythos trilogy, to understand who Blurryface is in our universe. :)





	1. Meetings are Scary

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this!! A lot of our works outside of our main trilogies are going to be very casually written- so please forgive us if it's not as in depth as the rest of our works! We wrote this for the story, and for Bee. Who we kinda made ourselves fall in love with. We totally want to share him with you!! :) I think you'll like him and his sweet lil self. Enjoy! - twentyonepilotsandknuckles (TOPaK) and MikeyFlippinWay [collectively mythomusicians]

The boys just finished their set at the festival they attended, and Tyler and Josh are feeling pretty great about how it went. The crowd was great, there were no noticeable screw ups, everything went without a hitch. As they head to their dressing room, Blurry, per the norm recently, can't help but keep looking at Josh. It doesn't help that he's all sweaty and shirtless from drumming.

 _"Everything okay up there, Bee?"_ Tyler asks, noticing Blurry's been a bit quiet.

 _"Yeah! Of course, Ty!"_ Blurry answers quickly, cheeks tinged red in embarrassment for staring at Josh. Again.

When they get back to the room, Josh goes to check out his phone for any messages he missed while playing, and he smiles a bit to himself at reading a text. "Hey Ty, Hals wants to meet up with us once we get cleaned up."

Bee scowls a bit before he realizes he's even doing it. He's only met her in passing, and she seems too friendly towards Josh for his current liking. He isn't sure how to feel about her.

"Sounds like a plan." Tyler answers, and they get cleaned up as Josh texts Halsey to find out where to meet up.

 _"Ty, um, do you want me to just take a nap, or?"_ Blurry isn't sure he wants to watch them all hang out if he can't be a part of it. And he's not sure he wants to watch Halsey hang all over Josh, either.

 _"You don't want to meet her?"_ Tyler responds. He had planned on trying to introduce Bee to more people, help him make more friends.

Blurry makes a quiet sound of uncertainty in response. _"I dunno."_ He says. He's pretty sure he doesn't want to meet her, but Tyler sounds a bit upset at hearing that..

 _"You should meet her, Bee."_ Tyler insists, thinking that meeting more people will make him more comfortable around others.

 _"W-we'll see."_ Blurry settles on, grabbing his blanket and already planning to sleep through their meeting. There's no way he could stand to see her hanging all over him, when he should be the one hanging over Josh. If-if that'd be okay with him. Josh might not like having anyone hanging all over him at all.

 _"I'm telling her about you one way or the other, tho,"_ Tyler smiles a little. He'll warm up to her. He's pretty sure of it. It's always scary meeting new people, he understands that. He's kind of nervous himself, about how to explain him to Halsey.

"She said we can meet her at her tent right now if we want," Josh smiles. "Do I tell her we'll be right there? Or do you want to meet up somewhere else?"

Bee makes a bit of a frown at the way Josh smiles. He should be making Josh smile like that.. He wants to, anyway.

"That's fine." Tyler tells Josh, smiling back at seeing his smile. 

Blurry wraps the blanket tighter around himself and considers turning off his visuals so he won't have to see her. He knows Tyler would be concerned, but seeing Josh happy with someone that isn't him... That-that's a bit much to handle. He wants to be the one to make Josh happy. Even if he isn't made to feel happiness or anything like that, he wants Josh to smile at him like how he's smiling at his phone...

 _"You'll like her, Bee."_ Tyler tries to convince him as they make their way towards Halsey's tent.

 _"Don't really wanna like her.."_ Blurry mumbles more to himself than to Tyler.

"Yoshua!!" Her arms go flying straight into hugging him as soon as she sees him, a big 'ol smile plastered on her face. Blurry does his very best not to frown, aware that Tyler will feel it if he does. _He_ hasn't even gotten to hug Josh today.  >:^(

Josh laughs at the greeting, hugging her back tight with a similar expression on his face. "Hey, Hals!" He manages to lift her up and spin her around before she's satisfied enough to let go of her grasp on him, then turns her attention to Tyler.

"You guys did great out there." She smiles as she goes to hug Tyler, and Bee instantly recognizes it as a different smile than the one she was giving Josh. The one she gives Tyler is more of a 'hey you're a cool friend' kind of smile, versus the 'you're my favorite person' smile she'd given Josh. Blurry doesn't like that. Blurry wants to hug Josh, prove to him that his hugs are better than hers. Because they definitely are. Obviously. Or-or maybe not... Josh probably likes her more.

"Thanks," Tyler responds to her, but his smile starts to falter just a little as he becomes aware of Bee's mood worsening. They get themselves comfortable in her tent and the pleasantries out of the way before Tyler goes to bring up the awkward topic of Blurry.

"Oh! Hey Hals, there's someone super wonderful you've gotta meet," Josh starts with a big grin before Tyler even has a chance.

"Well I've already met you so I don't see how there could be someone more super wonderful." She teases. "Who is it?" She glances around expecting to see someone she hasn't seen before, but anyone else coming in and out of the tent are just people that help with her stage performances. Blurry tries making himself smaller, not wanting to meet her. She's too friendly with Josh. He doesn't like it. He knows he's worrying Tyler, so he tries to push his emotions down but it doesn't seem to be very helpful. It never is.

Josh leans close to her and whispers, "I really like him okay, so try not to freak him out." He doesn't want to keep it a secret from Tyler, but from Blurry. Josh really likes Halsey, but he also has come to terms with the fact that he really really likes Bee, too. And he doesn't know what to do about that.

 _"Come on, Bee, just for a few minutes...?"_ Tyler pleads with him, not in the mood for forcing him out and ending up with an anxiety attack on their hands. _"Just say hello and meet her and then you can come back and turn off your visuals if you want."_

"What, you think I'd scare him or something?" Halsey laughs, raising an eyebrow at him. "I'll be on my best behavior, I swear." She holds her hand up like she's taking an oath or something.   
Blurry hesitates. He doesn't want to. But, maybe just one minute. He could try to maybe stake his claim on Joshie and she can get the idea to back off of him. _"On-only for a minute, Ty."_ He finally agrees on. Enough to hug Josh, introduce himself and go on back.

"More worried about him scaring you and making you freak out, thus making him freak out because he made you freak out," Josh laughs before turning to Tyler and holding out his hand. "Is he ready?" Josh asks, a hint of concern in his voice. He wants Tyler to take his hand before Blurry comes out so he has something to grip, someone familiar, and also because he kind of wants to hold his hand.

"Ready?" Halsey tilts her head slightly, a confused brow raised. "I've already met Tyler if you're trying to introduce me to him, Yosh." She jokes, not understanding what Tyler has to do with meeting a new person.

"He's honestly not all too thrilled." Tyler laughs a bit and grabs his hand before letting Bee take over. His markings and eyes don't show through, feeling way too uncomfortable with the situation, but he squeezes Josh's hand tightly, maybe a bit too tight, refusing to look at Halsey, looking anywhere but at her. At his shoes. Josh’s shoes. Then risking a glance at Josh.

Josh squeezes his hand back, smiling at Blurry like he's the greatest thing he's ever seen. "Hals, don't freak out, but this is Blurry." He rubs his thumb over his hand gently. "You're safe, man. Promise. I'm right here," he says quietly. Protectively.

"Blurry?" Halsey questions, not following the logic. That's Tyler. Josh hit his head while doing a backflip or something?

Blurry is still hesitant though, although his cheeks flush a bit pink at hearing his protective sort of tone. He takes a few breaths to calm down, just trying to focus on Josh as if Halsey isn't even there. It takes almost a minute, but sure enough his markings show through, and he closes his eyes as he rests his head against Josh's shoulder, cheeks still rather pink. "I'm Blurry..." He manages to mumble out quietly, not really wanting to talk to her.

When she sees the black appear out of seemingly nowhere, she kind of gets the idea. That's not Tyler. Somehow. "You're... Blurry." She repeats after him. "Um, I'm Ashley," she says a little awkwardly, looking to Josh with confusion.

Josh smiles a bit at Halsey before turning his attention back to Blurry, who still seems rather uncomfortable. Bee tries his best to muster up his courage though, opening his eyes as he lifts his head off of Josh's shoulder. He hesitantly holds a hand out to shake her hand. "N-nice to meet you..." He doesn't quite mean it, but he doesn't want to come off as rude. Especially if this is someone that Josh likes. He doesn't want to be jealous, even though he totally and definitely is. Feels like his chest is on fire.

Halsey shakes his hand warmly. "Your eyes are gorgeous," she comments. Can she say that? Is that okay? 

"Blurry is my-" Josh hesitates. He almost said boyfriend. Um. "I.. He's one of the greatest people I know." He settles on. It's a crappy save, but it's true. "He's not Tyler, I promise." He squeezes Bee's hand tight.

"Thanks." Blurry manages a bit of a smile at her. He's pretty sure she's just saying that to break the ice or whatever. But at hearing Josh introduce him in that way, he blushes a bit more. "I'm-I'm not the greatest person he knows." Blurry corrects in embarrassment. Josh has met a whole lot of cooler people than him. 

"So, where's Tyler then?" Halsey can't help but to ask.

"Um, Ty's.." Blurry taps his head. "He's here. Watchin'." 

"Blurry's a Tulpa," Josh smiles. "Not sure if you know what that is." He honestly doesn't know what Halsey knows. She probably doesn't know what magic is, he probably should have explained better. But Blurry deserves to meet people without the long explanation preceding him. He's real. He needs no explanation.

"A Tulpa?" She asks, a bit confused about the term. Before either of them can get into an explanation, she takes out her phone to google it, figuring they're probably tired of explaining things like this. After a minute she nods with a slight, "okay". 

Blurry looks at Josh, then back to her, vaguely confused by her reaction. Okay? That's-that's all? Usually people have tons of questions about things. 

"That's fuckin' cool." She clarifies, smiling at Blurry.

"Th-thanks," Blurry responds. "You don't.. You don't have questions?" He asks, still surprised. Maybe she's... Not super awful. She could be pretty nice, he supposes. 

"Told you it would be okay, Bee," Tyler smiles.

Halsey shrugs. "Things will make sense with time I suppose." People probably bombard him with questions once they meet him, so she doesn't want to make him suffer through that. She wouldn't like answering hundreds of questions about what she is either. She’s been there. Fuckin’ sucks.

Maybe Tyler's right, Blurry thinks to himself. She doesn't seem all too bad. Maybe a bit too extroverted than what he prefers to be around, but that doesn't really mean she's bad. Bee squeezes Josh's hand again, still refusing to let go of it.

"So tell me about yourself!" She smiles wide at him. "Or we can just hang out together and get to know each other better that way. Hey, either of you want something to drink?" She stands and heads to the cooler, which she's stocked with both normal and hard lemonade, among waters and beers.

"Um." Blurry is still rather off put by how well she seems to be handling this. Is this magic kind of stuff not new to her, he wonders. And if it isn't new, does that mean she's something not human? Blurry admittedly gets a bit excited at thinking that, watching her to try and pick up anything that might give way what she is. The cooler isn't filled with blood, so she probably isn't a vampire, he can cross that off the list... 

"Yeah grab us both something." Josh answers for Blurry, twining their fingers together, hoping that's okay with Bee.

"Sweet," she grabs herself and Josh a hard lemonade before turning, "Do you drink, Blurry?"

"Um.. I-I don't know.. I'll go with no, for now.. Thanks," he smiles a little at her as she turns back and grabs him a normal lemonade. Blurry grips Josh's hand when he twines their fingers. He's so thankful for Josh. Maybe Josh doesn't like her more than him? But maybe he does and he's just being extra nice so Bee will like her..? This whole situation is confusing to Bee, honestly. He thanks her when she hands him the lemonade, taking a sip of it as Josh does the same to his own.

"So, Blurry." Halsey starts, wanting to strike up conversation with him. "Do you play at all? Or is it just Tyler out there all the time? Or maybe it's just been you this whole time and Ty has no musical talent." She laughs a bit. "Tyler can hear me, right?"

 _"Yes I can!"_ Tyler tells him as he sticks his tongue out at her. 

Blurry laughs a little, "Ty stuck his tongue out at you.. I play a little of the bass, sometimes.. Dally taught it to me." He says with a bit of a smile. He's quite proud of himself for learning it so fast, honestly.

"That's really awesome." She says. For someone who seems as shy as Blurry, he can still be up there on the stage and play. And if he plays the bass during Ride, that means he must sing during it too, right? It takes a lot of courage to get out there in front of an audience. She knows.

"Thanks." Blurry smiles a bit, feeling maybe a bit more comfortable. She isn't hanging on Josh right now, so he's okay with her. But if she starts clinging to him again, well, Bee might have a bit of a jealousy problem. He rests his head against Josh's shoulder again for good measure. 

"You guys are so cute." Halsey comments simply and sips her drink.

Blurry blushes pink again, and so does Josh. Blurry thinks for a moment that he should maybe take his head off of Josh's shoulder, but Josh rests his head on Blurry's head with a, "you think so?" He laughs a little and then turns his head to kiss Blurry's temple softly, hesitantly. "He really is awesome." He doesn't know how to flirt, but he's trying. 

"Ugh stop, I'm gonna throw up already." She says with a smile as she takes another swig.

Blurry's face grows more red at feeling his lips against the side of his head. It makes him think that maybe Josh might like him. He's probably just doing it to keep him calm, but Bee can be hopeful if he wants to. He tells himself not to be though. 

"Okay so, I have to ask, are you two together or?"

Blurry closes his eyes and shakes his head as well as he can manage, not trusting himself to vocalize it. 

Halsey feels she's treading on awkward ground though, so she decides to talk about something else. She knows when she’s not helping. "It's pretty hot out today isn't it? Honestly great weather for swimming." Talking about the weather is probably an easy way out.

"You, um.. You like swimming?" Blurry asks, still not moving his head from Josh's shoulder despite how awkward he's starting to feel. His markings fade despite that, but his eyes remain red. 

Josh rubs his thumb over Blurry's gently when he sees his hand return to pale. He knows Blurry's feeling uncomfortable, he blames himself now, honestly. So he's gonna try to fix it.

Halsey nods, maybe talking a bit quicker so he won't dwell on her awkward question. "Yeah, the feeling of being weightless underwater is kinda like flying, don't you think?" She smiles a bit. "It's like a totally different world down there."

Blurry tries focusing on her talking rather than the fact he and Josh aren't together. Josh wouldn't want that, he wouldn't want to date someone who doesn't actually exist, Bee thinks. "I've never gone swimming," Blurry says. "Ty has, but.. I've never experienced it."

"Yet," Josh adds. Blurry's going to have the chance to experience all kinds of things. He's going to make sure of that.

"Oh you definitely need to." Halsey grins wide. "The hotel I'm staying at has a pool. You're welcome to come and check it out if you want, Ree." If she remembers right, the boys have a bus night rather than a hotel night since their next festival is only a few states away.

Blurry finds himself smiling a bit at the nickname. "That.. Wouldn't intrude? Or anything?" Blurry asks, actually kind of hopeful. Ashley's nice. She gave him a nickname. _"Ty, could we?"_ He wants to run it by Tyler in case Ty had plans for something else. He doesn't even have swim trunks with him on tour but he's sure he can find something somewhere in this weather.

 _"That's fine by me, Bee."_ He smiles, glad that he seems to be opening up a bit more. He went from not wanting to meet her to kind of excited to hang out with her.

"No intrusion at all." Halsey assures him. "I have a signing in an hour but after that we can head back to the hotel?" She suggests.

"That'll be good." Josh says. "Gives us time to find swim trunks."

"You mean we aren't skinny dipping?" Halsey asks, looking almost appalled, pouting with her lower lip hanging before laughing.

Blurry blushes bright red when she mentions skinny dipping, and he also gets more than a little jealous of how she treats Josh. But he tries to swallow it down for the sake of swimming and the fact that she seems to be a nice person. But is she human??? Bee's still debating that part. "I-I'm gonna let Tyler take back over, for now," he says, his face flushed completely as his mind's still on Josh. "I-if that's not a bad thing," he adds, giving either of them the chance to object. If they want him out, they can say so.

"See you again soon, Ree." Halsey smiles at him, giving him a small wave.

Josh debates with himself for a moment before hugging him tightly. "You're so brave, BF." He whispers to him as he smiles and gives him a tight squeeze. Meeting someone new is always difficult for him, and he's sure that Bee is feeling a bit exhausted from it already. He releases him shortly after, letting Tyler come back. But Blurry hugs Josh back and tries to savor it while he can, before he can't feel again. As soon as Tyler's back in control, he watches Josh pat his back in the best friend way with a "welcome back." Blurry snuggles up in his blanket and decides to leave his visuals on.   
_"Thanks, Ty.."_ He tells him quietly.

They stay with Halsey, chatting about this and that until she has to leave for her signing. Blurry still feels a pang of jealousy whenever she gets too close, but he does his best to wave it off. For Tyler’s and Josh’s sakes.


	2. Chapter 2

The boys catch a ride to a nearby mall and find a clothing store to find some swim trunks.  
Blurry plans on staying in Tyler's mind as they're trying things on, but nope Tyler shoves him out to take control. " _You're gonna be the one swimming, find something you like."_

"But Tyyy," he whines vocally at him. This is a public place and he's not a public person. But Josh grabs his hand and gives it a light squeeze.

"Tyler making you go shopping?" He asks with a laugh and Bee nods. "I'll help, don't worry."

Blurry blushes at his hand being held and gives another nod. "Okay, Joshie..." 

After a while, they decide on four pairs of trunks for Bee to try on. He stayed far away from the speedos despite Josh joking with him he should try one. Bee doesn't really want to try any of them on because that would involve taking his shirt off and doing that around Josh is nerve wracking to him. Even though he's seen Tyler shirtless tons of times. Bee is just rather self conscious about Josh seeing him, his marks, even though he pretty much knows where they end and such. He’s seen it before, of course.

 _"Ty, why can't you try them on instead of me?"_ Blurry asks as he closes the fitting room door. 

 _"Cause you have to like how /you/ look in them, Blurry. They're gonna be your swim trunks."_ Ty responds with a laugh. _"Josh and I can help you figure out which ones you like best."_  
Blurry sighs and begins to begrudgingly undress to try them on one at a time. Two of them he doesn't need anyone's help to decide he doesn't like, but he ends up being tossed up between the other two. _"Ty which one do you like better?"_ He doesn't want to go out and ask Josh. He really doesn't.

 _"I like them both the same, Bee."_ Tyler admits. The light blue plaid looking one is pretty simple, and simple looks good on Bee, but the black with red stripes seems like it would be more of Blurry's style. _"You should ask Jishwa."_

Bee groans at Tyler's answer.

"Everything alright in there BF?" Josh calls out.

"Y-yeah, I'm good." Bee sighs, face rather red as he opens the dressing room door to show off the blue ones first.

Josh smiles immediately. "Those are cute," he comments. "I mean, um, they look good on you. They're a nice contrast to your.. Your color scheme." He laughs a little nervously. Blurry has a certain pull to him that Tyler just.. Doesn't. And Josh is so bad at trying to start relationships or flirting or anything like that, really. "Are those the ones you want to buy?"

"Mm.." Blurry shakes his head, looking at his feet in embarrassment. "There's another that I, uh, I'm not sure which is b-better." Bee hesitates a moment before he quickly closes the door, letting out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. He goes to change into the other pair, needing a bit of a push from Tyler to go and show Josh again. He opens the door once more. "Which, um, which do you like more?"

Josh hmmmmms as he considers the two options. "I think... At first glance everyone would think that those are more your style," Josh starts, referring to the red and black striped shorts. 

"So these ones?" Blurry asks, just totally ready to change back into his normal clothes and let Tyler take over.

"Well, no. Because I think everyone would be wrong," Josh smiles. "You like the blue ones more."

Blurry blushes more at Josh's words. "Y-yeah." He admits, looking down at his feet again. He likes them both, but the blue ones caught his eye first. "So, the first pair then?" He confirms, glancing back to Josh, face still beet red.

"If that's what you like, BF." Josh smiles. "Go ahead and get changed." He can tell Blurry's nervous, he's blushing big time. But it's so cute, he's so cute. He takes the time Blurry's changing to text Halsey. Cause he can't exactly text Tyler.

Josh: he's so cute  
Josh: how do I flirt with him  
Josh: how do I flirt with anyone??

Tyler meanwhile is working on getting Bee to relax. " _You're alright, Bee. You can come back in if you want. But I bet Josh would like your company."_ Tyler can totally tell they're crushing on each other. I mean, it’s obvious. To like, everyone except them, apparently.

Ashley: ur so cute yoshua   
Ashley: just tell him you like him !!!!!!  
Ashley: tell him hes cute n shit n make some moves on him already !!!!!!  
It's not like they do a good job of hiding it tbqh.

 _"You-you think he would?"_ Blurry asks Tyler, shoving a hoodie on so he feels a bit more comfortable again. _"Would it be okay if I st-stay out a bit longer then..?"_

Josh: I tell him he's cute all the time  
Josh: I don't know how 2 do this love thing 

 _"Of course it would, Bee. I don't mind at all."_ Tyler smiles and Bee can feel it. _"Enjoy some time with your favorite Jishwa."_

Ashley: im like  
Ashley: so sure he likes u so dont worry  
Ashley: every1 likes u yoshua 

Blurry takes another breath before leaving the dressing room with the blue pair in hand. "You-you find one too?"

Josh smiles and holds up a brightly colored pair that looks like it's probably too short on him, which seems to be a recurring theme with him. "Unless you object, I'm getting these," he laughs. He sends a quick text back to Halsey.

Josh: but like  
Josh: he's in Tyler's body  
Josh: what if that's too weird for Tyler?  
He puts his phone back in his pocket. "Ready?"

"They're great, Joshie." Blurry laughs a bit as they head to the cashier to buy the swim suits.

Ashley: is he stuck in ty??  
Ashley: does he evr get his own body??  
Ashley: or??

While Tyler pays (Bee doesn't know the PIN on his debit), Josh takes out his phone.

Josh: he did once  
Josh: it's not like a regular thing   
Josh: he's Tyler's tulpa so he's pretty much always there  
Josh: but he can jump hosts if he wants

Ashley: jump hosts??

She doesn't text back for a few minutes, then sends:

Ashley: ok i got u i can handle it  
Ashley: leave everything 2 me ill be ur wingman 

"Everything okay?" Bee asks, looking at him curiously. He's texting an awful lot..

Josh looks up at Blurry. "Hm? Oh, yeah. Just asking Halsey where her hotel is."

Josh: ok if u say so  
Josh: where's ur hotel?

Josh puts his phone back in his pocket and resolves not to check until they're back on the road. He buys the swim shorts and they start walking out, Blurry immediately putting his hands in his pockets. Which frustrates Josh. He wanted to hold his hand again..

Halsey texts the address and they get in the car, Josh driving. It isn't a long drive, but Blurry doesn't know how to start talking to Josh. He wants to talk to him, but where can he start that won't sound awkward or anything?  
"Um, Halsey is pretty nice, isn't she?" Ugh why is he talking about his competition? Blurry tries his best not to shrink away.

Josh laughs a little. "She's a really great friend. She likes you," he comments. He's awkward as heck but he'll do his best if it means Blurry's gonna hang out with him instead of run and hide.

"How long have you known each other?" He asks, trying to still keep on the subject he started. It’s a stupid question. They pretty much met her at the same time, after all. But he wasn’t really paying attention, then. Bee looks down at his hands, holding them together and close to himself. He glances over Josh when he feels the car turn, seeing they've arrived at the hotel.

Josh glances back with a small smile, pulling the car into a parking spot. "Not super long," he tells him, reaching and taking his hand gently. "You okay, BF?" He asks softly, noticing he's been kinda nervous and flustered all afternoon.

"A-ah, yeah!" Blurry answers quickly. He instinctively squeezes Josh's hand. He glances down at their hands, and when he looks up he sees Halsey waving at them. "She's waiting for us." Bee says, hesitantly letting go of his hand and leaving the car before he could start freaking out that Josh was holding his hand. Willingly. On purpose. Again.

Josh shakes his head a little at how cute defensive Blurry is. He gets out and grabs the bag that has their swim trunks.

"Hello hello, Ree!" Halsey immediately goes to give him a big hug, similar to the kind she gave Josh earlier. Bee smiles a bit and hugs her back. She isn't all too bad, even if she is competition for Joshie.

"Hey, Ashy."

Halsey smiles at the nickname before giving him a tight squeeze and whispering in his ear, "gotta talk to you and Tyler bout somethin'."  
Blurry tilts his head in confusion but before he could ask what she means, she releases him to go and greet Josh. Halsey hugs Josh good and tight with a "Yoshuaaaa," and upon releasing him, grabs both of them by their wrists and starts pulling them towards the hotel until she's sure they'll follow. "Gotta get you two changed so we can have a fuckin' swim," she says, smile apparent in her voice.

She leads them to her room so they can change, insisting that Josh goes first. Josh is a bit curious as to why it matters, but goes ahead anyway. 

"Josh was telling me something about how you can hop hosts?" She asks Bee quickly, hurrying before Josh can come back out.

"Yeah, I-"

"Come visit me." She grins at him. "Trust me, I think you'll like it."

"Um, but-but I've never.. Been in a girl before.. And-and I have to ask Tyler-"

 _"It's fine with me, Bee."_ Tyler smiles. It could be good for him.

 _"Are you sure..?"_ He isn't too confident about this. He doesn't know her all too well..

"If it's your first time swimming, I'm gonna make it fun, Ree." She assures him. "I don't know how you do the thing but do it before Josh comes back." Halsey grins, grabbing onto his hand.

"O-okay, um, Tyler needs to-" 

Blurry feels Tyler swap out quick and send Blurry over, Bee immediately shrinking back to her mindspace, worried about what he'll look like in her. Worried about Josh seeing. Her mindspace is beautiful, though, all strange and beautiful stone architecture with modern furniture, but it takes a minute for him to realize that he's completely underwater as though there were no water whatsoever. Bee is worried for a moment that he'll drown or something, but since he doesn't need to breathe in a mind space, he seems to be okay.

"I'm gonna get a head start and take Ree with me." Halsey smiles and gives Tyler a wave before hurrying out to head to the pool.  
"You're gonna love this, Ree." She says as she makes it to the pool. Luckily it's totally empty. She strips off her clothes, her bathing suit already on beneath, and dives right into the pool, figuring out how to force Blurry out as she touches the water.

Blurry's never swam. He's also never been in Halsey. He's immediately freaking out, trying desperately _not_ to freak out, _"I don't- wh-"_ he sends her and she just tells him to relax, that he'll be fine. Bee floats for a moment before noticing that his legs feel weird. Why do his legs feel weird? When he looks down, he notices he has no legs. Which would probably explain why it feels weird. In place there's a huge fish tail. _"Wha-"_

 _"Your first time swimming is as a mermaid, isn't that fuckin' sweet?"_ She smiles at feeling his surprise. _“Nothing’ll ever be this good,”_ she laughs.

 _"I'm a mermaid.. You're a mermaid??"_ Bee flips his tail a bit, getting used to the feeling. It then occurs to him that he's still underwater, and he's not breathing through his mouth. The first thing Blurry notices aside from the obvious tail are the strange things he can only decipher to be gills on the sides of his body. Or her. He isn't exactly sure how to refer to himself. After that he notices the black marks that always follow him, a stripe starting just below his chest and splitting into two as it trails down, stopping at where the gills start.

 _"Being a mermaid for your first time swimming is by far the best experience you can have."_ Halsey seems proud of herself. The water isn't super deep, not enough to really explore the waters or anything, but at the deep end being nine feet, that's a decent amount of space to swim around.

Blurry swims sideways a bit to get a feel for it before bringing himself- herself, she decides- to the surface to see if Josh or Tyler arrived yet.

 _"Do you always change your person's appearance?"_ Halsey asks curiously, catching a glimpse of her reflection in the water. Her hair isn't teal, it's dark blue. From what she can tell.

Bee nods a bit as she waits, _"yeah, always."_ She looks down to get a better look at her tail. It's pretty. It's very pretty. Because Ashy's very pretty. It's dark blue like her hair seems to be, but her fins are edged strongly with black. It's really so beautiful to look at. And she's rather glad that she's in the water now, because the tail looks like it could be quite heavy otherwise.  
With a few minutes, Tyler and Josh finally join them, neither of them noticing the tail at first what with the water hiding most of it. What they do notice is the red eyes on Halsey, as well as the darker hair and the familiar dark patches. Bee smiles at them and waves, wondering how long she can keep the mermaid thing a secret until they notice.

She uses her arms to swim up to the edge, butting her tail up against the wall so they can't see it as well. "Hey," she smiles at them.

"Blurry?" Josh asks with a smirk. "When did- Tyler said you were too embarrassed-"

Tyler laughs a bit, setting down his towel on a chair. "All part of Halsey's master plan or something, I don't know," he shrugs.

Blurry smiles up at them before splashing water at them and laughing. "Come on already!" She isn't exactly sure if it's a 'master plan' or something that Ashy has, but this is really rather fun already. 

Josh laughs a bit at being splashed. Honestly Bee looks really stunning. Blurry always is no matter who she visits. The Blurry touch to someone just makes them all the more attractive to him.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Tyler says with a smile, walking around to the deep end and cannon balling into the water.

"Your turn, Joshie," she smiles at him, a bit more confident than normal. Maybe that's a Halsey effect. Maybe it's just because she feels really pretty as a mermaid.

"Of course." Josh laughs and follows suit of Tyler, splashing in after him.

 _"When dya think they'll notice?"_ Blurry smiles a bit as she asks Halsey.

 _"Give em a sec, they'll find out."_ She laughs, thinking her own mind is pretty cool. At least that's assuming what this is. She never really asked Bee the specifics of what this all involves. A bit of a risk taker like that.

Tyler swims up to Blurry but they're both bombarded with splashes from Josh. They splash back and forth a bit until Tyler's foot brushes up against something weirdly smooth. "Josh- Josh, hold up," he looks down at Bee under the water. "Holy crap, what???? No way," he gets a huge smile on his face.

"What?" Josh asks, still stupidly oblivious.

Halsey laughs, a mermaid now in her own mindspace, swimming about as she watches the boys’ reactions. She'd much rather feel the water properly but this is still fun!

Blurry just smiles innocently at Tyler then looks to Josh, who is looking at them in vague confusion. "What?" He asks, still not seeing what they're talking about. Bee smirks and splashes water at him with her tail which is definitely more than what legs would cause, honestly. Like a big beach wave. 

"I-" Josh finally notices the giant freakin' tail.

Blurry giggles and swims quickly all the way to the shallow end and back, keeping just below the surface so Joshie can see her tail!! Not as cool as wings, but it’s pretty freaking close!

 _"Having fun, Ree?"_ Halsey asks. She figures she can ask questions about how all of this works later.

 _"So much fun, Ashy, thank you,"_ Blurry's smiling so much.

Josh smiles as he watches Blurry swim back and forth, thinking she's absolutely gorgeous. He really does like Blurry, especially when she looks so happy and excited and confident like she does right now. 

Tyler notices Josh's face turn a bit red as he watches her, and he smirks a bit, splashing some water in his face.

When Blurry returns to the surface, she sees Josh smiling wide. "You like it, Joshie?" She asks, splashing him a bit with the water. 

"It's.. Wow, BF." Josh blushes a bit more.  
"Ashy's a mermaid! Isn't that awesome?" Bee giggles, thinking it's one of the coolest things she's ever seen, ever been. She'd be much cooler if she could be as pretty as this all the time. Joshie would probably like her more, too.

"Yeah you're pr- it's pretty awesome." Josh smiles at her, hoping his mess up wasn't that noticeable. Or maybe that it was. How does he flirt??

Halsey is basically facepalming at Josh's horrid attempts at flirting with Blurry. Come on, Ree is a gorgeous mermaid, say something more than that, Yoshua!!!

 _"Blurry, babe, can you do me a favor and swim to the bottom so I can chat with you without being interrupted for just a sec?"_ Halsey asks.

 _"Mhmm!"_ Bee responds and tells them she wants to see what it's like to dive deep as an excuse. She swims to the bottom of the deep end and pauses there, _"yeah Ashy?"_

 _"I know you like Josh, Ree,"_ she giggles, just cutting to the chase.

 _"That-that I-!"_ Blurry stammers, face turning really red. _"Why-why would- no, of course not..."_ She knows she's caught though. After a little bit she lets out a quiet sigh, bubbles floating up to the surface. _"He's... He's just so-so perfect Ashy..."_ She hasn't even talked to Tyler about this. _"I-I know it's silly and dumb and-"_ Bee covers her face with her hands in embarrassment.

 _"Oh, Ree,"_ she sighs a little, settling herself into a modern looking underwater chaise lounge, tail resting gracefully over the end. Only in her mindspace, honestly. _"He's been trying to flirt with you all day, babe."_

 _"N-no..."_ Bee shakes her head, not believing that he would actually willingly flirt with her. That'd just be silly. Josh was just being nice like he always is. _"He wouldn't..."_

 _"Ree, do you want to try something?"_ Halsey asks.

 _"What do you mean?"_ She asks.

 _"Neither of you want to make the first move. So let me help you make it first."_ Halsey grins. _"You can hide your marks right?"_

Blurry nods, _"y-yeah,"_ what does she have planned? What does she want her to do? Josh wouldn't flirt with her, that's ridiculous. He would want to flirt with a real person, like Ashy. Wouldn't he..? _"Why...?"_

 _"Let's play a little game on Yoshua."_ She smirks a bit. _"You don't have the confidence yourself to make the first move, but what if you're me?"_ The way she's thinking it, Blurry can act a bit more carefree and reckless and go with the flow if she's pretending to be her. And Josh probably wouldn't notice, right? So if Ree happens to seize an opportunity for a kiss or something, she will hopefully take that.

 _"I-I don't know, Ashy.."_ If Joshie falls for it and he kisses her... He'll think he's kissing Ashley and not Bee.. She's not sure if she wants that to happen. Josh swims into view, air leaking from his nostrils, and tugs gently at her arm, wanting her to come up again. She's been down there for a couple minutes, now. Bee gives him the "just a sec" hand symbol and he swims back up to the surface.

 _"You can always bring back your marks once you get more comfortable."_ Halsey suggests. She just wants them to end up together already. Seeing them crush on each other and flirt horribly is just totally killing her right now.

 _"O-ok.."_ Bee agrees finally and hides her marks, the teal returning to Halsey's hair and her tail turning almost a white pearlescent. She swims back up, thinking, _"be Ashy, be Ashy..."_

 _"Have fun with it, Ree."_ Halsey reminds her. Hopefully if she's doing this right, Blurry will start out thinking 'I have to be like Ashy', but after a while, she'll get her own confidence and not have to keep reminding herself to be someone she's not. And when that happens.. Well, Halsey has her hopes nice and high.


	3. Chapter 3

At seeing what appears to be Halsey come back up, Tyler raises an eyebrow of confusion. "Is Bee okay?"

Blurry takes a breath, trying to be like Ashy. "Ree wanted to rest a bit. First time swimming can be exhausting." She shrugs. 

Josh studies her for a couple moments, trying to figure out why BF decided to hide her marks like she is. She's obviously Blurry. Her scent is still Blurry.

Tyler smiles. "Well let me know if Bee wants to come home," he splashes her, none the wiser.

She laughs, trying to sound a bit more confident, be a bit more confident, and splashes back. "Oh you know I will," she responds. "She's fine right now, just watching." She wants to talk to Josh, but how does she even start? _"Ashy, help..?"_

 _"Just start hangin' on him. Just get close to him, Ree!"_ Halsey insists. She's never afraid of getting in Josh's personal space, so if Ree wants to try and sell it, then she'll have to be aggressive. 

Josh figures that Blurry probably has a reason for acting like Halsey, and he doesn't question it, feigning not knowing. "Did BF have fun?" He asks. "It looked like she was having fun." Josh smiles at her.

Blurry takes a deep breath through her gills, which is still a totally weird feeling to her. You can do this, Blurry. Ashy's confident. Be confident. "Tons of fun, Yosh-u-aaa," she giggles and swims a little closer, leaning on him in the water. "Mermaids have the most fun, of course." 

 _"Truuuuue!"_ She hears Halsey confirm with a laugh.

"I never knew about the mermaid thing, that's pretty sick." Josh says, genuinely surprised by that. Out of all the magical things he could've guessed Halsey to be, he wasn't even thinking mermaid was even a thing. 

"Saltwater mermaid, not to be confused with those weak freshwater ones." Blurry sticks her tongue out at Josh, having gotten some help from Halsey about what to say. She wraps her arms around Josh's neck, her chest against his back as she clings on to him. This isn't so bad, Blurry thinks. It does give an excuse to be close to Josh.

Tyler smiles and splashes them, but does worry a little about what Bee's feeling with Halsey leaning all over Josh like this. He knows Bee has a crush on Josh, he's not blind. "Gimme your best mermaid splash," he challenges her. She's gotta have all kinds of tricks up her sleeve. 

Josh laughs when Bee wraps around him like that. He doesn't mind in the slightest, he kind of likes having her on him like that. He just wishes he knew why Blurry can't just be herself. He likes her better as herself.

"My best?" She asks Tyler. Blurry gets a few pointers from Halsey, 'cut the water don't slap the water', 'the tail is a lot more powerful than you think', 'don't actually do the best because a lot of water will end up outside of the pool'. Blurry laughs a bit at that last one, thinking her best probably won't be all too impressive anyway. She clings to Josh tighter for support before following Halsey's instruction to create a huge splash in Tyler's direction. "Something like that?" She asks Tyler with a bit of a smirk, still clinging onto Josh tight.

"Shoot! That was good!" Tyler laughs once he gets the water to stop dripping over his face. "But mermaids can't do this!" He gets out of the pool and cannonballs back in, though Bee's splash was still bigger. Josh takes the opportunity to try to spin Bee around so he can hold her instead of her clinging to him. He manages to do so and finds it in him to press a kiss to her cheek before Tyler comes back up, secretly breathing in Blurry's slightly cinnamony scent because that is definitely BF, not Hals.

Blurry ends up blushing at the cheek kiss, hoping she isn't giving herself away. Ashy wouldn't blush at affection like that. Blurry tries to compose herself. Josh likes Ashy. Be like Ashy... "Mm, what was that for, Yoshua?" She smirks, splashing a little bit of water at him again.

Josh shrugs and blinks the water out of his eyes, making him do the squinty smile. "Just felt like the right thing to do. Should I not? Cause I was gonna do it again." Maybe he can use this as an excuse to put a bit of a move on Blurry? He's always been close to Halsey, and he's always been afraid of touching Blurry. But with Blurry pretending to be Hals, he feels like he's allowed to be a bit more handsy.

"Maybe you should." Bee finds herself smirking a bit, holding onto him again. Even if Joshie thinks he's doing this with Ashy, Bee tries to savor this. It's still Josh giving her affection even if he doesn't know it's her in the end. Bee figures this is as close as she can get to being close with Josh and getting away with it. 

Meanwhile Halsey finally relaxes a bit and lets things play out on their own. She got them to be close, so she's pretty proud of herself as Josh's wingman.

"Maybe I will," he holds her close, absentmindedly running a hand over her gills. 

Tyler sticks his tongue out at them. "Don't mind me I'm just third wheelin' over here." 

Josh sends a splash his way and resolves to kiss Blurry's cheek again, soon, just not yet. He'll settle for keeping her close for a few minutes. Feeling Josh touch her gills is a really strange sensation. Since she's above water she isn't using them to breathe, but feeling him touch them makes her breath hitch nonetheless. She isn't even focusing on the fact Tyler, and Halsey, are right there. Right now all she really sees is Josh. She really really likes Josh. A lot. Bee wishes that Josh could feel the same. But he can't love someone who doesn't have a body of their own. So being like this? Pretending to be Ashy to get attention from Josh? It's as good as it could probably get.

Josh and Tyler fool around a bit for a couple minutes more, Josh maintaining at least one arm around Bee's waist the whole time, before Tyler makes the lame excuse of needing to relieve himself to get up and leave them alone for a couple minutes. Josh laughs and then smiles softly at Blurry once Tyler's in the bathroom, brushing their noses together gently. "You're really pretty," he comments. "Like the tail, and all that."

"You think so?" She smiles, splashing her tail a bit at the mention of it. "I guess you're right." Blurry laughs as she rests her forehead against Josh's. "It is pretty stunning, isn't it?"  
Halsey is honestly elated at how well her plan worked. This is Ree's own confidence showing through at this point. She knew that the Tulpa had it in her.

"Not as stunning as you," Josh responds, and he moves in to kiss her. He's wanted to for a long time. He knows Halsey would be okay with this. 

Blurry kisses back, taking whatever she can get, fully aware she's gonna feel crappy about it later, probably. The high of the moment will be worth it. Maybe that's Halsey talking though. 

Josh takes a moment to smile against her lips, feeling a little confident and a little proud he got to kiss her. He speaks quietly, lip to lip, "Nothing is as stunning as you, BF."

As stunning as...? Blurry's eyes shoot open at hearing Josh say her nickname. N-no, that's not right. How did he know? And-and he still kissed her regardless? "I-I'm not B-" Blurry closes her eyes again, knowing she might as well come clean if Josh already figured it out. "You don't r-really think I'm st-stunning..." Despite the feeling that Josh probably doesn't really like her, her lips still stay against his as her marks and eyes show up once again.

Josh keeps her close, running a hand across her gills and giving her a light kiss. "You're always stunning," he smiles softly. "You're as stunning now as you were this morning, and yesterday, and a week ago.." He runs his hand lovingly down her tail, the smooth scales still being somewhat of a breathtaking feeling.

"I..." This is a dream or something right? Josh doesn't _actually_ think of her like that right? He couldn't... He couldn't actually like a tulpa. A being made to represent everything bad... 

_"I told you he's been trying to flirt with you all day, Ree."_

Blurry is still stunned and confused about the situation. Her eyes focus on his hand against her tail. "How... Did you know it was me?"

Josh just smirks. "Trade secret, BF. I always know when it's you." He laughs lightly, giving her middle a squeeze to keep her close. He's wanted this for so long. He doesn't know when or if Blurry will let him do it again, when she's back in Tyler. He doesn't even know if Blurry actually _likes_ him. What if Bee was feigning it because she thought Hals had interest in him?

"That-that's not fair." Bee pouts a bit at that. So he knew it was her all along then?

 _"Psst, Ree, kiss him."_ Halsey ushers. 

Blurry's face grows red at hearing her. _"He-he wouldn't want to do that again.."_

_"Have you learned nothing, Ree? He fuckin' likes you. A whole ton. So go fuckin' kiss him and let him know you do too!"_

Blurry hesitates a moment, her eyes looking to Josh's lips. They were so soft and warm and perfect and right and she wants to feel them again. She squeezes her eyes shut as she leans in to kiss him a bit hard, trying not to seem desperate but coming off as very much so. Josh immediately kisses back, his eyes fluttering shut as he holds her close in the water. He didn't expect Blurry to make a move like this, but he can't possibly complain. It's perfect, because she's so wonderful. He doesn't ever want whatever this is to fall apart, he decides. Once she goes back to Tyler, he wants to kiss her some more. Maybe not right away, if she's not ready. But eventually.

All of Halsey's whooping and cheering in her head makes Blurry end up laughing a bit against their kiss, ending up breaking it off and resting her head against Josh's shoulder. "A-Ashy's happy for us." She laughs a bit, nuzzling her face against his shoulder as her cheeks stay pink. After a moment though she can't help but to end up kissing him again, part of her still believing this isn't real.

Josh returns the kiss, he always will, keeping their lips together for a few moments before resting his forehead against hers, smiling but keeping his eyes closed. "Is this real, BF..?" He kisses her quickly again. "You're actually kissing me, right?" He wants to be pinched, wants to have it proven that it's true and real and actually happening.

"It-it doesn't feel real does it?" Bee admits, unable to help kissing him once more. His lips feel so wonderful against hers. She can't get enough of this. Even if this is just a dream, it's a really freakin' good one. She never wants this to end.

Josh kisses her short and deep once more before wrapping both arms around her waist and spinning them in the water, laughing as he does. "It is real, it has to be," he smiles as her fins brush up against his legs. "I need it to be." He hugs her close, breathing in her distinct scent.

"I do too, Joshie..." She closes her eyes and hugs him back tight. She isn't exactly sure what this means for them. If they're together or something or who knows. Blurry doesn't really want to think of the long term stuff right now. She just wants to focus that Josh has just kissed her willingly, more than once. "I need it to be real too.."

Josh lets her go a bit so he can see her better, and he smiles at her with a bit of a sigh. "Why were you pretending to be Hals, BF..?" He likes the shy, bashful, sweet Blurry much more than the falsely confident pretending-to-be-someone-she's-not Blurry.

"B-because.. Y-you like Ashy more..." Blurry buries her face into the water in embarrassment. She's still pretty convinced that he does. There's probably a reason why he would rather kiss her when she's Ashy than when she's Tyler.

"I love Hals and all, Blurry, but I knew it was you I was kissing," he says. "Hals and I have talked about it before. We don't want to date." Because I like _you_ , he adds in his mind.

"Why wouldn't you wanna date Ashy? She's a sweetie." Blurry laughs as she hears Halsey's response.

_"I love you, Ree I'm gonna marry you."_

_"I-I think I might already be taken."_ Blurry tells Halsey as she smiles, kissing Josh's chin and hoping that's the case. To be together with Joshie? She might just die at that.

"'Cause she's not you," Josh says simply, a pouty frown playing at his lips. He can think of a lot of reasons he and Halsey wouldn't work, they've gone over them before. But when it comes down to it these days, it's because he's too preoccupied with Blurry. He kisses her lovingly once more as Tyler comes back from the restroom, his eyebrows raised in quite a bit of surprise. But Blurry doesn't notice Tyler, being too wrapped up in kissing Josh to notice. She loves it. She could kiss him forever. Tyler instantly recognizes the darker hair and the black marks, and it dawns on him that while he was gone, his best friend and his other half _finally_ kissed. He knew they were crushing, and to suddenly see them kissing? He's so happy for Bee.

Blurry breaks it off, a bit unwillingly, and just rests their foreheads together. "Joshie.. I- I don't know if I'm capable of feeling real love.." She worries about this all the time. Worries about being real. About having emotions she wasn't supposed to have. She doesn't want this to devolve, and as she hears Tyler get back in the pool, she lets go of Josh completely, except she grabs at his hand, embarrassed.

"I'm pretty sure you can feel love." Josh assures her, kissing her cheek and squeezing her hand as Tyler approaches. 

Tyler hooks his arms around both and them and hugs them close and tight. He's so happy for them. It took way too long for one of them to make the move. "You two are so cute I think I'm going to get sick."

"Tyyy," Blurry whines as she hugs tight back. She smiles a little more, though, knowing that Tyler approves somehow. She wonders if he'll still approve once she's back in his head. Or if Josh will still want her when she's not as beautiful as Mermaid Ashley.

Josh laughs and holds them both tight for a little while longer before releasing them and splashing them both. 

Blurry is just so happy that things seem to be going better than she could have ever imagined. Kissing Josh? More than once? And she isn't just dreaming? Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Bee splashes around and has some more fun with Josh and Tyler for a little bit until she does actually get tired. "Hey Ashy, you wanna swim now?" 

 _"please, I'm fucking dyiiiing,"_ she laughs. She's been very patient for a mermaid. _"You wanna hangout with me or go back to Tyler??"_ Blurry thinks about it for a while before Halsey cuts in. _"Go hangout with Tyler."_ She suggests. That way, if Ree wants to keep swimming, she can still be close to Josh.

 _"Kay, thanks for everything, Ashy."_ Bee tells her with a smile on her face."Hey Ty, can you take me back please? I wanna let Ashy swim before you both get too pruney," she giggles.   
"Of course, Bee." Tyler responds and swims up to her, taking her hand to take her back.

 _"No problem at all, babe."_ Halsey tells her before Blurry hops back to Tyler. 

Halsey’s really nice, but sometimes the comfort of familiarity is nice too. _"Did you have fun?"_ Tyler asks with a smile as the three of them fool around in the water.

 _"..I think I love Joshie, Ty,"_ Blurry offers as a response, blushing slightly as he cuddles his pillow. He doesn't know if that's okay, if he's allowed to, if Tyler's actually okay with it now that he's back in his body and not Halsey's. 

"Ree's such a sweetie," Halsey says with a smile as she wraps herself around Josh from behind. She hopes Blurry knows she's just friends with Yoshua now.

 _"Yeah?"_ Tyler asks Blurry, smiling a bit. _"You only_ think _so?"_ He really loves his counterpart, and if he can help him figure out love then that would be great. _"I think that you do."_

"BF is really something else." Josh laughs a bit, letting Halsey hang on him. Wishes it was Bee, but he'll manage.

 _"Y-you think so? W-what if it's not love, though, Ty..?"_ Blurry worries a little. He's still happy about the day so far but.. He worries. It's kinda his thing. 

"Tell me more about him," she asks, or maybe more like demands, flipping water at them with her tail excitedly.

 _"Well then why don't you tell me what you like about Jishwa?"_ Tyler prompts. _"And I can help you figure it out."_

"About BF?" Josh smiles a bit. "Where do I start? You already know how adorable he is." He laughs quietly. "He's just always so genuine and tries his best to be brave and kind to everyone."

Blurry blushes when he hears Josh talking about him like that. Is that really what Josh thinks? Oh right, he should answer Tyler. _"U-um, everything, Ty. Joshie is just.. He's so good to me, he's always been good for you, he-he helps when I freak out and- and he's just.. Really caring.."_ Blurry starts with.

"Aw that sounds so great!" She smiles. "How long has he been around? Why haven't I met him before? Is he what you based the album on?" She finally lets her questions loose lol

Tyler hmms as if he's giving it thought. _"Yep. You're incredibly in love with him, Bee."_ He smiles and lets Blurry take control again. _"You should tell him."_

"He's been around for like five years or so, but we only found out about him a few months ago." Josh explains. "There was this whole thing about Tyler being possessed by a demon, yknow, normal stuff." He laughs again.

Blurry blushes bright pink when he's forced out and he hears Tyler tell him that. 

"Speaking of the cutie!" Halsey lets go of Josh and swims over to Bee, giving him a hug. "Feel better now that you're home, babe?"   
Blurry nods a little and looks to Josh, who's just smiling at him. The smile seems different than it used to be though, more gentle. Bee hugs Halsey back tightly before swimming over to Josh, face still rather pink as he holds onto him tightly. How's he supposed to say it? Is he just supposed to come out with it or something? What if Josh doesn't feel the same..? But Josh just holds Bee, shifting him so he's a bit more comfortable in his arms, and kisses his cheek.

"You're all pink," Josh laughs quietly and kisses his head. Hals is trying real hard not to awwwwee but she knows when to give a couple some privacy, so she swims over to the deep end and fools around underwater, enjoying it as much as the smaller space allows. 

Tyler, meanwhile, lets Bee know he's turning off his visuals to give them some privacy. 

So it's really just the two of them right now. 

Blurry just grows more pink and nuzzles his face against Josh's shoulder, unsure where to go from here. Being just close with him is enough right? That way he doesn't have to worry about Josh not saying he loves him too..

Josh carries him over to the steps in the shallow end so he can sit and keep him on his lap. "You okay, BF?" He asks softly, a little concerned that he's being so quiet and bashful. He hopes he didn't mess things up. Gosh, what would he do if Blurry doesn't actually like him?

Blurry nods before mustering up enough courage to give him a kiss. Part of him still believes this isn't real. That Josh could maybe possibly like him. He probably only kissed him when he was acting like Ashy because she's so pretty. But now that he looks like Tyler, looks like himself, it'll be different right? Josh will like, recoil and swim away from him or something.. But he still kisses him, eyes squeezed shut tight. And Josh kisses him back as soon as the initial shock wears off, pulling him close. Closer than when he was in Hals. Thank God, Blurry likes him. Just Blurry. Pure Blurry, no help from Halsey. Intentional or otherwise.

At feeling him not move away, at him kissing back, Blurry's heart beats about ten times faster. He's... He's okay with this. He's kissing him too. Blurry clings to him tighter before breaking the kiss off and burying his face against Josh's chest in embarrassment. "That... That-that was okay...?" He asks quietly, not believing it still.

Josh exhales softly, not quite able to believe it himself. "Of course," he says quietly, rubbing his back gently. "Of course it was okay." Josh will take this at Blurry's pace. He won't rush him, won't force him into a single thing.

"I-I..." Blurry takes a breath before managing eye contact with him. "I really, really like you, Joshie. Like, a whole lot. I-I have for... For a long time..." He takes another breath to keep himself going, trying to vocalize his emotions for Josh. "Y-years." He admits, nuzzling his face against his chest again. "And-and I love how nice you are to me and that you care and-and-" It occurs to Bee that he used love instead of like, and his face stays bright pink. He hesitates a moment before making eye contact with him again. "I love you, Joshie.."

Josh lets out a very small, surprised huff of a laugh, smile growing slowly. "Blurry..." He looks into his eyes and brings a hand up to caress his cheek, his thumb rubbing small lines back and forth. "I love you, too.." He says quietly, unsure how he can add anything more, just wanting him to be here and wanting this to be real and not wanting to wake up and find out it was a dream.

A warm smile grows on Blurry's face as he leans against Josh's touch. "R-really..?" Josh loves him... Joshua Dun, the man he's loved since before he even met him. "Really?" He asks again, still smiling at him, cheeks pink.

Josh nods, starting to do the squinty smile. "Really," he all but whispers. Tears well up in his eyes but he does his best to hold them back. "I love you," he repeats, making sure Blurry heard it right.

"You... You really..." Blurry hugs to him tighter, leaning in to kiss him again. How can he? How can Josh love him? He doesn't have those qualities that Josh has that makes him love Josh. How can this be real?

Josh kisses him with all the love he can muster, wanting to make sure he knows it's real. Josh loves Blurry. Josh loves the way he makes him laugh, the way he cares deeply about him even when he's the one who needs to be cared for, Josh loves how genuine Bee has always been, how very much himself he's become. Josh loves smiling, and Blurry makes him smile more than most things.

Blurry does his best to pour all his love into the kiss as well, wanting Josh to know, to feel, just how much he loves him. Because it's a whole freakin' lot. He loves him so much, and being able to vocalize it and have it reciprocated? He might even be more in love with him.

Josh breaks off the kiss and holds Bee close, just processing this all. It happened. It's real. "You're.. You're not kidding, right?" For all of his confidence, Josh is still a doubter. He's anxious, worried, too in love to let Blurry go. "Can you.. Can you say it again?" He asks quietly, the only other sound being the water splash lightly at the walls of the pool.

"Joshie, I love you s-so much..." Blurry says, burying his face against Josh's neck. "I love you." He would never joke about this. Bee's waited so long to say it. He never could have imagined Josh saying it back.

Josh wraps both of his arms around the tulpa, hugging him tight in disbelief. "I love you," he echoes. He smiles. He lifts Blurry up and pushes them both out further into the water, spinning Blurry around weightlessly. "I love you!" He laughs a bit before he gets Bee to wrap his legs around his hips and he just holds him, arms around his waist. "I love you, so much."

Blurry laughs and hugs to him tight, risking another kiss. "I love you too, Joshie." He echoes back.

Halsey smiles at hearing them and she swims back on over to splash water at them. "Too cute."

Josh just smiles at Halsey, blushing a bit but not letting go of Bee even a little. Blurry's his. If he wants to be. He still has to ask that part.

Honestly if they've kissed and confessed that they love each other, it should be obvious they're together, but even Bee isn't sure. He doesn't want to assume and end up embarrassing himself or anything.

"Blurry," Josh starts with a smile. "You wanna date?" He asks it in such a nonchalant way, as though he might as well be asking if Bee likes chalupas.

Blurry nods quickly, giving him a kiss to seal the deal. "Of-of course I do, Joshie." He whispers against his lips. Together. They're together now. Is this still real? Does Bee really have an alien boyfriend now?

"Good, because I don't think I would do this if I weren't your boyfriend," Josh laughs and pushes him under the water, following after and kissing him below the surface as long as their breath can stand it.

Blurry tries his best not to laugh, but he does smile against Josh's lips. Josh is perfect. The bubbles coming from their noses tickles against Blurry and he soon bursts into laughter, needing to come up for air.

They come back up to find Halsey on the side of the pool, phone in hand, taking pictures. 

Josh laughs at the sight, but her tail really is astounding. 

"What if someone comes in and sees you?" Bee asks in disbelief.

Halsey shrugs still taking pictures of them. "And what if someone sees you makin' out with Yoshua over there?" If someone sees her she'll handle it. She's a mermaid after all. Mermaids are more than just pretty tails. Especially saltwater ones.

Bee blushes bright red. "We-we're not makin' out, Ashy," he stammers out. But now he's wondering what that might be like. Making out with Josh..

"We could be." Josh whispers against Bee's lips before laughing a bit. He might overload if so many wonderful things like that happen in such a short time, but it's a risk he's willing to take. 

"Damn stop being so cute ugh." Halsey flops her tail against the water to splash them. "I can't handle that."

Blurry laughs a little nervously, but he's smiling. "Not when we're hangin' out with Ashy and Tyler," he says. "Speakin' of," he goes to tell Tyler he can turn his visuals on or even take over if he wants. He wonders how much Tyler's missed.

Tyler won't admit he actually never turned off his visuals, though. He wanted to see just how happy Bee and his best friend were, are. It was weird to see himself kissing Josh. Well, not himself. But it's okay, because right now this is Blurry's body.

"Um, I'm gonna let Ty have some more fun with you and Ashy," Bee tells Josh, bravely kissing his cheek. "But.. But I wanna watch a movie on the bus with you tonight, if-if we can."

"Of course, BF." Josh smiles and gives him one more kiss. Now his nickname has two meanings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao dont worry its not over


	4. Chapter 4

Tyler switches back out once Bee detaches himself from Josh, and while Bee rests in Tyler's mind space, the three of them keep swimming around.

"So tell me more about this saltwater mermaid thing," Tyler asks Halsey eventually as he gets out of the pool and grabs his towel to dry off. "Like, you specifically said saltwater. Are there freshwater mermaids?"

"Yeah, there are." She nods. "I know a few, one you know, I think." Halsey knows she isn't supposed to say who, that's their own business. "Freshwater mermaids are more like your classic Ariel kind of ones. Y’know, the pretty and innocent ones. Saltwater are more like, the ones that don't typically like humans and lure sailors to their death kind of things." She shrugs nonchalantly, deciding to stay in the pool while Tyler gets out, and Josh soon follows suit, not wanting to get too pruney.

Josh laughs. "So the freshwater ones are hippies and you're a bunch of rioting punks?"  
Halsey flicks a bit of water at him while sticking her tongue out and flipping him off.  
"Do _you_ like humans?" Tyler asks curiously. Can she tell Josh isn't, he wonders? Is that why she liked him so much so quick?

Halsey shrugs. "They're okay. They can get annoying pretty quickly though." She looks at Tyler, knowing he's mostly human. He's got some sort of magic in him, so maybe not wholly human. And she knows Josh isn't human at all, but has no clue what exactly he is. Does set her at ease though, honestly.

"Surprised you hang out with us as long as you do, then," Josh laughs.  
"Well, Tyler's obviously got somethin' goin' on. And you're a whole other piece of work." She smiles coyly at him, hinting that she knows something.

Josh raises an eyebrow at her. "Am I? Who's to say I'm not as human as everyone else?"  
"If you were human I would know." She laughs. "Trust me." Humans always have a certain air about them that Josh definitely doesn't have.

Josh's eyes widen in surprise when he finds out he's been caught. "You've known this whole time?" He works on drying himself off and Halsey finally moves to sit at the side of the pool, dangling her tail in the water but reaching to grab a towel.

She shrugs again. "Figured you'd tell me when you wanted to." Halsey messes her hair up with the towel to dry off, not really wanting to get out of the water entirely yet.

"I never know who I can tell without getting like, outed to the government or whatever," Josh half jokes. He and Tyler move to a couple chairs near where she's sitting at the pool, towels wrapped around their waists.

"Well you know I totally have the president on speed dial." Halsey jokes, taking out her phone and sending the pictures of Josh and Blurry to him. "Callin' him up right now, telling him we've got a grade-a non-human here."

"Grade A? No no no, Josh is Grade C at best," Tyler smiles at him.  
Josh just laughs, "thanks, F-Grade mostly-human."

Halsey laughs too and reluctantly moves her tail out of the water, and as she dries it off they turn back into her legs. "These aren't nearly as fun." She says, kicking her feet a bit. Halsey looks back towards Josh and studies him for a moment. What could he be? She's rather curious to find out now. It's only fair since they know what she is.

Tyler notices Halsey studying Josh, so he grins. "Give you 5 guesses," he tells her, deciding to make a game out of it.

"Five?" She frowns a bit. "Do I get any hints? There's a lot to choose from out there." The only thing she can knock off is mermaid. Halsey would know if he were a mermaid and he definitely isn't.

"Well he's not a demon and he's not an angel," Tyler says.

Josh adds, "and I had no clue you weren't human." He smiles innocently at her. He's pretty sure that a lot of magical beings can see or smell when other people aren't human. Like auras and stuff. He's only able to smell dark magic. And only a tiny bit.

Halsey gives it thought. What things can't tell when something isn't human? That rules out vampire and wolf right away. Fairy too. And if he can't tell when someone is magical, that probably means he doesn't have much magic of his own, if any. What else is out there? She doesn't want to admit that her knowledge of the supernatural isn't all that impressive.

Josh smirks. "You probably don't even know I exist," he throws her. "It's all speculation."

Doesn't know he exists... Non-magical... And she has a feeling that government comment he made earlier has something to do about it. A light suddenly flashes in her mind and she grins. "But you look totally human, Yoshua!" She smirks a bit. "Or at least that you come from Earth, anyways."

Josh winks and laughs. "Such a good disguise I didn't even know until very recently."

"Seriously we're talking like, weeks here. This is new stuff," Tyler adds.

"No shit!" Halsey stands, throwing her wet hair up in a towel. "Talk more back in my room? Or do you need to get back to your bus?"

"We don't have bus call until around ten." Tyler looks to the time, seeing they still have a little less than three hours. "We can hang around until then."

Josh smiles and nods. "Unless you're kicking us out or something."

"Yeah get out." Halsey says as serious as she can manage. "I don't wanna hear about your alien shit."

"Oh, well, you heard the big scary mermaid, Tyler. Let's get going so BF and I can watch that movie," Josh attempts to say seriously as he turns and heads for the pool door.

"You dummies." Halsey sticks her tongue out at them before walking after them, always a bit shaky after having a tail for a while. She wishes that everything was water so she could just swim everywhere, honestly.

Josh turns back around and puts her arm over his shoulder, laughing. "Come on, sea-legs. Let's get to your room so we can change." He, of course, does mean back into normal dry clothes, but he has something else in mind too.

Halsey laughs a bit and nods, escorting them up to her room and sitting down on her bed so she doesn't have to worry about standing for a while. Her swim suit is still rather damp but she figures she'll change once she gets used to her legs being there again. "So, alien?" Halsey prompts, wanting to know what all that involves.

Josh takes the time Tyler's getting changed to explain what he can. "Yeah, alien. Isn't that crazy?" He sits on the bed with her, smiling. "I don't know a ton but I'm learning."

"How'd you not know though? From what I know most magically related beings kind of know what they are." Halsey is curious about that. Wouldn't most know what they are?

"It was like, literally locked up in my head somewhere. A closed door in my mindspace I couldn't get to until BF came along." He leans against her a little bit. "But now it's like, there's all these questions that I don't have answers to yet."

"Mind space. That's where you end up when Ree is in control right?" The term makes enough sense for that. "And a bunch of questions? How are you supposed to answer my questions if you don't know the answers?" Halsey laughs.

"Yeah, everyone's is different," Josh wonders what Halsey's was like. Maybe he'll ask her later. "And, well, the more time I spend in my alien form the more I seem to understand."

"Well how different does your alien form look?" She asks curiously. Tyler heads out of the bathroom all changed and- oh, it’s Blurry.

"Ty wanted me to be out a bit longer but-but if you'd prefer Tyty.."

Josh stands almost immediately, smiling and going to Blurry, hugging him gently. "I like hanging out with you. Hals does too. But it's up to you." He kisses Blurry's head and moves to grab his clothes so he can change. "I'll show you when I'm out of my trunks," he directs to Halsey, then gives Bee a light kiss and heads into the bathroom to change.

Blurry blushes a bit again as he's kissed, totally twitterpated, and goes to sit down beside Halsey, kicking his feet with a smile. "Joshie gonna show you his alien side?" Bee asks her, smiling still.

"I guess so," she leans against him, kicking her feet a bit too to get a better feel of her legs. They still feel like they'd be wobbly, but she could probably walk without needing help. "Have you seen it? Is it super weird?"

"It's cute. He's really cute." Bee answers, smiling still. "I don't wanna spoil it all for you, but he's super cute and perfect and-" He giggles a bit. "I-I might be a bit biased."

"Oh my goodness, Ree, you're too fuckin' adorable. You need to stop or I might have to steal you from Yoshua and Tyler." Halsey laughs and bumps their shoulders together. "Though.. I wouldn't know how to do that, but," she shrugs. "I'd find a way"

"I'm sure you'd be the one to figure that out." Bee giggles again. "But really, so cute. So so cute. Cat-like." He smiles, not wanting to spoil more than that for her.

"Cat-like? Seriously?" Geez no wonder Ree says it's cute. And sure enough, Josh returns all dressed and comfortable, his eyes black.

Blurry smiles at seeing his change and he reaches out for Josh's hand, pulling him down between him and Halsey. Bee holds his hand tightly, loving to see him embrace that alien side of him.

Halsey looks at Josh, scrutinizing him. "That's all? Black eyes?" She asks, half scowling. Kind of a letdown if that's the case.  
"There's more," he tells her, pulling Blurry onto his lap and kissing his cheek, purring softly. Man he's wanted this for a long time. This is nice. Having someone. Having that someone be Blurry.

"There's more." Blurry echoes with a smile, resting his head against Josh's shoulder and enjoying the purring. It's so calming and nice and wonderful. He really loves alien Josh a whole lot.

Halsey smiles a bit at the purring. That's not human. "What else? Come on, just tell me everything. I'm so curious." It's not every day you meet an extraterrestrial.

"Feel like you can understand enough to translate for her?" Josh asks Bee, referring to Symphonic.

"Um, if you keep it simple, I'll try." Bee responds, a bit unsure in his ability to translate Symphonic.  
"Translate?" Halsey asks curiously. Does he have an alien language of his own?

"I will," Josh laughs a little. He gives Blurry another cheek kiss, sending him, "promise."  
"Yeah," Blurry says with a giggle, cheeks getting rosy at the kiss. "But I'm not gonna spoil anything."

"I wouldn't want you to anyway." Halsey sticks her tongue out at him. "I'm sure it sounds great."  
"It's beautiful, Ashy." Bee giggles again and hugs Josh tightly. Joshie being able to talk to him in Symphonic without just hand holds or things like that. Josh can actually _kiss_ him to speak Symphonic to him.

Josh smiles at Blurry's compliment of his language. He's not catching every word, so he figures it's as good a time as any to show it to Hals. He makes sure he's sending it all to Bee as well in case he can't translate it himself, but he takes her hand in his and sends her, "my language."

Halsey tilts her head at him. Those weren't words. Usually different languages still have words, maybe some sounds. But that. That sounded like music.  
"Pretty isn't it?" Blurry asks her.

"That's.. It has meaning? Like words? grammar..?" It was so different from any language she's ever heard. Josh nods, catching most of what she said. "Can't keep both languages," he sends them, slowly so Blurry can translate. He'll even repeat it if he needs to. "One or other."

Blurry does his best to translate, not quite grasping some of it but managing to get the meaning behind it. "He says it's basically either English or Symphonic. Uh, that's what we've been calling that language anyway." He explains, trying to go a bit more in depth about what he remembers. "You lose one language slowly as you gain the other."

"It sounds so beautiful. Awfully poetic. How do you know what he's saying, Ree? I guess you're learning it the traditional way, hunh?" She laughs a little and squeezes Josh's hand, smiling at him. It's so strange to see him like this, as anything other than human, but she supposes he had the same reaction to her tail.  
Josh is slowly losing his grip on all of the English he knows, and when he can't understand a word of what they're saying, he just focuses on his beautiful shiny new boyfriend on his lap, nuzzling him and purring softly, not wanting to get too carried away. They only just started dating, after all.

Blurry nods to Halsey's question, in turn nuzzling back against Josh. "I am soooo far from perfect at understanding it though. It isn't exactly the easiest of languages." He laughs a bit at that. "It's really so pretty though. I could listen to it all day." He smiles. Even if he can't translate everything, just hearing Josh speak with him in Symphonic is music to his ears. No pun intended.

Josh gets the idea that she likes it, so he wants to send her more so she can hear. "You're a good friend," he sends her. "Great friend." He smiles at her and leans to gently kiss the side of her head before returning to Blurry and giving him a light kiss. "Going to go all out next sentence," he sends him. Then with a second peck, "don't worry about translating. Just showing off."

Blurry translates what Josh told Halsey, which earns a smile from her. "I am a pretty damn good friend aren't I?" She bumps her shoulder against Josh as thanks for the compliment.  
Bee nods at what Josh says, still wanting to see how much of it he could understand though.

Josh laughs and bumps his shoulder back against her in return. He really loves body language. He gets to keep that. He squeezes her hand again as he sends a more complex sentence, because he's a show off just like she was with her tail. "Thanks for everything you did today to help get me and Blurry together, Ashley. It means a lot to both of us." He sends it quickly, not holding back any of the tones he might normally hold off on for translation's sake.

Blurry's mind whirls with the sounds, barely understanding anything but his name.  
Halsey is basically in the same place. She oddly enough heard her name in there. Even though it wasn't her name, it was still sounds, but it was definitely her. "That's really beautiful." She manages after a bit of trying to process it. "No wonder you call it Symphonic, it sounds like music when it's all strung together like that."

Blurry nods with a big smile on his face. "It's super pretty. I hope I can understand it fluently someday," he giggles. "Maybe even speak it fluently!" He hugs his Joshie tight and kisses his cheek.

"I'm sure you will, Ree." Halsey smiles. "Especially now you've got a new boyfriend to help you learn."  
Blurry's face reddens a bit again, and he snuggles against Josh's chest with a smile. Boyfriend…

Josh holds Blurry close, just holding and purring, occasionally sending him little compliments. Blurry feels good. Blurry feels important. He feels right in his arms.  
_"Did you get to hear any of Joshie's symphonic, Ty?"_ Bee asks, unsure if Tyler would have been able to hear. He's been pretty quiet.

 _"Nope."_ Tyler answers. _"I think it's just physical touch. I didn't hear anything."_  
Blurry gives Josh's cheek a kiss, really so in love with how affectionate he is right now. _"Did you want to come out and listen to him?"_ Bee asks him. It still is Tyler's body after all.

 _"Nah, I can get him to show off to me another time. Enjoy it, Bee,"_ Tyler smiles and relaxes on his bed, pillow over his face and his arms behind his head.  
"I would ask if the affection is an alien thing but I'm not sure if you would know," Halsey mentions. New couples kinda act that way a lot too, she knows.

"Well." Blurry starts, thinking to the other times Josh went alien around him. "I think it is. Joshie usually likes being close to people when he's like this." He seems more affectionate than usual though, which Blurry can only guess has to do with the fact they're together now.

"That is so. Cute. You were so right, Ree." Halsey leans against Josh, who nuzzles her gently and sends her a compliment of her own. He's so happy right now, honestly. "He's just adorable like this." She smiles.

"The most adorable." Bee giggles and hugs Josh tightly. "Do you hear his purring?" He asks her, smiling at her with his head against Josh's chest. "It's so calming and cute."

Josh hugs Blurry tight with one arm and kisses his head before resting his chin on him, purring rumbling softly through his chest.  
"He's a quiet purrer," Halsey notices. "My cat at home is so loud," she laughs. "Like a little motorboat. Josh would be easy to fall asleep to."

Blurry nods. He does often find himself drifting off when he listens to his purring. But when that happens he'd usually just switch out with Tyler again, not wanting to bother Josh by ending up falling asleep against him. He closes his eyes and keeps smiling, listening to his soft rhythmic purr.

Halsey smiles at how cute they are and lets go of Josh's hand. "I think I'm going to take a shower and get changed," she says. "I'll be back out in, oh, half an hour?" She winks at Bee when she sees him open his eyes to look at her.

Blurry nods, not really understanding what the wink is for though. When Josh sees Halsey leave, he looks to Bee with a questioning look.  
"Um..." Blurry thinks for a minute before taking out Tyler's phone and opening up the notes to type out: "", hoping that makes enough sense to him. Thank god for emojis.

Josh nods in understanding, smiling devilishly at his boyfriend. As though he were planning something.

Blurry gives Josh a curious look, wondering why he's looking at him like that. Is-is something wrong? Did he say something? His face gets a bit red, not sure what Josh is thinking about.

Josh holds Blurry tight and lifts him slightly, falling sideways onto Halsey's hotel bed and snuggling close to him, kissing his cheek good and hard. "Is this okay?" He sends him, ever cautious but overly affectionate.

Blurry's blush stays but he nods. Being close to Josh is always okay with him. He closes his eyes and smiles, enjoying the snuggles a lot. Josh is so sweet.

Josh smiles and brings Blurry close, pulling his head to his chest. He purrs softly and kisses the tulpa's head, wanting him to be at ease with this, wanting him to know that this is okay, that Josh is Safe.

His breathing calms down a bit at the gentle affection from Josh. He manages to relax against him. Bee never thought he could cuddle up with Josh like this. That Josh would ever be okay with this. After a little bit of this, the tension Bee usually holds in his shoulders fades away as he allows himself to relax fully with Josh. Josh wouldn't hurt him.. He said he loves him, so he should be able to trust him.

"Blurry," Josh sends with a kiss to the top of his head. "Want to tell you something."

"Mm?" Blurry tilts his head up to look at Josh. Tell him something? What does he want to tell him? Blurry tries not to think of the worst case scenario, just trying to focus on the here and now.

Josh smiles at him, at his adorable boyfriend, his new boyfriend. He gives him a gentle, loving kiss and sends him something very simple, but very true. It will always be true. "I love you."

Even though Blurry hasn't heard him say it like that before, it seems to translate to him just fine. It sounded beautiful, perfect, just like Josh. One of the most wonderful phrases he's heard in Symphonic. Bee closes his eyes again as he returns the gentle kiss, reveling in the wonderful feeling and sound.

Josh smiles against his lips when his kiss is reciprocated. He's way too lucky right now. He sends it again, just so overjoyed. So thankful to Halsey. So glad he has Blurry and so glad Tyler's okay with this.

Tyler's turned off his visuals, for real this time, letting them enjoy their time together. He doesn't want to intrude on that at all. Yeah, it is still weird to have Blurry use his body to kiss Josh, but Blurry is so happy. The happiest he's seen him in a long time. Tyler knows he can get used to this if it makes Bee happy in the end.  
Blurry smiles against Josh's lips when he feels him do the same. He's so sweet. So great, wonderful, and so perfect.

"Tired?" Josh asks, brushing their noses together softly. "Can help you sleep." He kisses Bee's nose very lightly, just barely a touch.

"Mm.." Blurry hums again. He doesn't want to sleep. He doesn't want to wake up and find this was all a dream. But he is feeling a bit tired from all the interaction today. And he needs to save energy for curling up on the couch with Josh later for some movies. Maybe some sleep wouldn't be so bad right now. After a minute he nods, wanting Josh to help lull him to sleep.

Josh kisses his forehead before bringing him back down to his chest so he can hear his heartbeat through his purring. "Will be here when you wake," he tells him. "Promise." He purrs softly, rhythmically in an attempt to help him relax.

"Thank you, Joshie.." He knows he can't really understand it but he says it anyway. Bee closes his eyes and stays totally relaxed, finding these subtle sounds of the purring and his heart making him drowsy. It's okay to fall asleep right? Josh said it was okay. It doesn't take much longer for him to doze off, snoring lightly.


	5. Chapter 5

Josh holds him close as he falls asleep, and once he does he decides to come back down to being human, not intending to wake Bee up for anything, not even when Ashley comes back from the bathroom. He just wants him to sleep soundly.   
When Bee falls asleep he crawls into bed with Tyler in the mindspace, still wanting some kind of closeness. _  
_ _"Hey, Bee. Fall asleep?" Tyler smiles as he makes room for his Tulpa._

"You bore him to sleep?" Halsey teases Josh quietly after she sees his eyes return to normal. She doesn't want to wake Blurry either. He's adorable when he's sleeping. Well, he's adorable when he isn't sleeping too.   
_Blurry nods tiredly as he snuggles up beside Tyler, wrapping his arms around him loosely. "You can take over if you want." He mumbles out after a bit, still feeling tired._

"Definitely," Josh kisses the sleeping Tulpa's head and carefully adjusts him so they can all be comfortable on the Queen size bed. "How do you shower if your legs turn into a tail in water?" Josh asks quietly. "Or is that part voluntary?"   
_Tyler brings an arm around his counterpart. "No, I'll let you be the one to wake up. Besides," he yawns. "Could go for a nap myself, after our performance today."_

"I just sorta flop around until I deem myself clean." Halsey laughs quietly and rolls her eyes. "It's voluntary." She clarifies, in case Josh might've taken her seriously there. "I do definitely prefer baths to showers for that reason though." They aren't as good as being in open water, or a pool, but it's nice for when there isn't water around and she wants to relax.   
_"Mkay.." Blurry snuggles his face against Tyler's shoulder. "I'm gonna get some sleep." He announces tiredly._

Josh laughs at the mental image of her flopping around in the shower. "I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that mermaids are real. And you are one." He rubs Blurry's back gently. It's nice to have him close like this. He even keeps his scent when he's the one to fall asleep.   
_"Alright, Bee. Me too." Tyler snuggles with him gently as they soon fall asleep together._

"You do know another." Halsey says with a shrug. "It's not up to me to tell you who he is though, you'll just have to figure that one out yourself." She's always been good at respecting what others are and not sharing their secret. "And there's a lot of things besides mermaids out there."

"Yeah, no kidding," Josh smiles. "Vampires, Angels, Demons, Aliens, Werewolves.. It's kind of an amazing world once you really discover it." He keeps his voice quiet, not wanting to wake Blurry. This is the first time Bee's fallen asleep around him. He wants him to wake up around him, too. This might even be the first time Bee fell asleep instead of letting Tyler. It's very likely the first time Bee was out while falling asleep. Usually he turns in before Tyler and he ends up having Tyler take over while he's sleeping. But this is Bee totally asleep right there on his lap. Honestly could this day get better? Josh sighs a bit and holds Blurry close in his arms. "But I think my favorite crazy thing out there is this one," he says quietly, referring to the sleeping Tulpa. "Mermaids are cool and all, but he's cooler." Josh laughs quietly and kisses Blurry's head again, casually breathing in his scent.

"Ree is pretty cool." Halsey says with a smile. He definitely has a lot going on about him and Halsey wants to get to know him better. But they'll find time for that. The boys have roughly an hour before bus call now, and Halsey knows they should be on their way soon.

Josh watches whatever Hals puts on TV for about half an hour, intermingled with quiet conversation. But Blurry stirs which garners Josh's immediate focus as he makes sure he's still holding him close.Blurry's eyes flutter open for a moment before closing again and nuzzling against the warm kinda different feeling blanket. After a moment though it occurs to him that it's not a blanket, it's a Josh. He's still here. Blurry smiles a bit as he opens his eyes again, looking up at Josh with a happy warm smile. "You're still here.." Blurry still can't believe it.

"Of course I am," Josh laughs softly. He gives his head a gentle kiss and rubs his back a little. "Have a good nap, BF?"

Blurry nods, not wanting to get off of his lap. He's warm and comfy. "I love you, Joshie.." He mumbles out with another smile.

“Love you too.” Josh says, keeping the tulpa close. This is real. Blurry is here with him saying that he loves him. It's perfect. He can't help but to lean over and kiss him on his lips, needing some sort of outlet for all the emotions he’s feeling.

Blurry smiles against Josh's lips before kissing him back, his arms moving to hug him close as well. How is any of this real? Josh kissing him is still a foreign but wonderful experience. 

"What'd I tell you two about being adorable around me." Halsey teases.

Josh laughs and turns to her. "I don't think you can steal both of us," he jokes. He kisses Blurry again before telling him they should leave in about 15, so if he wants to hang out with Hals he should do it now.

"I have my ways." She assures him with a laugh. 

Blurry sits up and leans over to go give Halsey a tight hug. "Thanks for everything today, Ashy." He says with a smile. It's because of her that he and Josh are together now.

Halsey hugs him tight back and pulls, stealing him from Josh. "Warned ya about being cute," she laughs. "It was fun, Ree." She gives him a loud kiss on his cheek.

Blurry giggles and hugs her tighter. How could he have been scared about meeting her? She's so kind and wonderful. No wonder Josh gets along with her so well.

"Now you two better be goals as fuck, okay? Send me lots of pictures and update me on how you're doing and shit, I have my emotions invested in this relationship." She laughs as she lets go of Blurry, allowing him to return to Josh if he wants.

He can't help but to giggle again. "I'm sure Ty and Joshie will send you tons of pictures." He gives her another tight squeeze before releasing her as well and returning to Josh's side. "Is it time to go?" He asks, looking at the clock.

Josh frowns a bit. "Yeah, we better get going." He kisses Bee's cheek before standing up to collect their swim trunks and stuff. 

"Hey," Halsey throws a pillow at Josh. "Keep me updated on that alien thing, okay?"

"I'll let you know if I find out more things about alien stuff." Josh assures her, tossing the pillow back at her. Blurry links his arm through Josh's, smiling at Halsey then at him. "We're good?"

Halsey snaps another picture of them because ugh so adorable before bidding them adieu.

Josh drives them back to their bus, but he keeps one hand interlaced with Blurry's the entire time. He looks over at him and smiles every now and again, too, just so happy it finally happened, so glad Blurry felt the same way. When he parks and hands the keys over to the rental guy, he turns to Blurry and gives him a light kiss. 

"I hate this as much as you do, but Tyler needs to walk back to the bus in case of any fans." He gives his hand a light squeeze.

Blurry sighs quietly but nods. Even if he hid his markings, seeing fans would freak him out. He lets Tyler take over and they make it onto the bus without much of a hassle. 

When they get back on, Mark gives a wave in greeting. 

"Can I come back out?" Blurry asks. 

"I'm gonna call Jenna first, then you can have your time alone with Jishwa." Tyler laughs as he takes out his phone to call his wife and let her know how his day went.

"How was swimming?" Mark asks as Josh plops himself down on the couch. Josh blushes a bit.

"Pretty awesome," he replies, a smile on his face. "I'm uh, not single anymore." He'll let Mark work that out in his head. He'll assume he's with Halsey, of course, and he'll be wrong. Which will be worth the laugh.

Mark studies him for a moment and smiles at him. "Was it you or Tyler who started it?"

Blurry laughs a bit at Mark's phrasing, having overheard. He's always amused by Mark calling him Tyler instead of Blurry or a variation of it.   
Josh looks at him in confusion, and Mark just shrugs. 

"It's pretty obvious to everyone how much you like him."

"Was it seriously that obvious to everyone but me and him?" Josh asks, completely blown away and now blushing pretty good. 

Mark raises his eyebrows and nods slowly, exaggerating for physical sarcasm. "I honestly would have thought it'd happen sooner." Mark admits. "Thought you'd be nearly married by now."

Tyler says his goodbyes to Jenna and joins in on the conversation. "Let the children take it at their own pace." He teases. 

_"Tyyyyy..."_ Blurry whines, face getting a bit red.

Josh just shakes his head, brushing off the comment. "To answer your question, Halsey started it." He reaches a hand out to Tyler. "Now give me my boyfriend as promised."

"Nah I'm gonna keep him hostage for a while longer." Tyler grins. 

 _"Tyyyyy!"_ Bee complains, whining some more. 

"I'm kidding." Tyler laughs, letting Blurry come back out.

As soon as Blurry's black hand grabs Josh's, Josh pulls him crashing into his lap on the couch. "Hey, cutie." He kisses his cheek happily. 

"Halsey started it?" Mark questions.

Blurry giggles a bit and hugs tight to him as the two of them explain their day with Halsey. They leave out the mermaid thing though, because that's just not his business.

"That sounds awesome," Mark says when Blurry's finished. "Still can't believe it took all that to get you two together." He laughs. "Too bad I can't post pictures of you, the fans would go absolutely insane."

Blurry laughs a bit hesitantly and nuzzles against Josh. The fans are nice and all, but they're still absolutely terrifying to Bee. The idea that they all think of him as some evil being plaguing Tyler, he doesn't like being portrayed in that way. Even though it technically is what he is, he thinks to himself.

"Should I leave you two alone? Or are you capable of ignoring me? I'm kind of in the mood to watch a movie, too." Mark asks before making himself particularly comfortable. He doesn't care if they kiss in front of him. He gets the feeling Tyler isn't all that handsy.

"I-I don't mind." Blurry likes Mark, he's nice. He was expecting alone time with Josh, but this is okay too. "What're we watching?" He asks Josh, but makes no effort to get off his lap for him to go and check.

"You're sure?" Mark asks, not wanting to pressure them into letting him stay. 

"Whatever you want," Josh kisses his cheek. "Not that we have a ton of options," he laughs.

"It's fine, Marky!" Blurry insists. "I don't mind!" He smiles and kisses Josh's cheek in return before moving off his lap to thumb through their limited collection. With a bit of a smirk, he puts in High School Musical, a movie that one of the fans had given Tyler to point out the similarities between him and the main character. 

 _"Bee why."_ Tyler sighs but laughs regardless. He's so cute. 

Blurry hops back onto Josh's lap and snuggles close once again.

Josh pulls him good and close as the movie starts. "You're such a dork," he laughs. 

"Alright cool, great choice," Mark says without a hint of sarcasm as he settles himself into the adjacent seat.

Blurry definitely focuses more on cuddling and snuggling with Josh more than the movie. He does end up quietly singing along to some of the songs though because HSM songs are so freakin catchy.

Mark does take the attention away from Josh a couple of times when Bee sings. "Wow Tyler, they're not kidding when they say you're Troy Bolton," he smiles. "You should do this show someday." 

Josh laughs and kisses Blurry's cheek. "You have such a cute voice."

"My singing is just the same as Ty's, Joshie.." Blurry mumbles in embarrassment. He rubs his face against Josh's shoulder. It isn't any different than Tyler's, so the compliment is to both of them.

Josh noses his hair gently. "You sing different, BF." He kisses his head. "Because you're different. That's why I love you."

"It isn't different.." Bee insists quietly but doesn't want to argue with Josh so he doesn't push it. 

The movie goes on for a while before Mark says he's gonna turn in early, leaving the alien and the Tulpa alone.

"Night, Marky!" Blurry calls after him. 

"Night Tyler, Tyler, Josh." Mark heads to his bunk and Blurry snuggles close to Josh. 

 

"Love you, Joshie.. Love you so much."

"I love you too, BF." Josh smiles and nuzzles their noses together before giving him a light kiss. Blurry is definitely different than Tyler. They act different, and are two totally different people, no matter what Blurry thinks. It's not that he doesn't love Tyler, but it's just different. He loves Blurry so much and just wants to keep kissing him.

Blurry kisses back, still new to this, new to the feeling, new to love, to kissing. He rests his head in Josh's neck and kisses him lightly there. "Why me, Joshua?" He asks quietly. He's not real, doesn't have his own body. It doesn't make sense to him, that Josh would even give it a chance.

"Because you're perfect, BF." Josh gives him another kiss. "You're kind, attractive, and I'm just so drawn to you." He smiles against Blurry's lips and kisses him once more, pouring more love into it.

Blurry kisses back as he blushes lightly, then he keeps their lips together. "But I'm not.. I don't have a body.."

"You do. You do right now, and when we were swimming earlier and you were a gorgeous mermaid." Josh says. "When you're in control, it's you, BF. Just because you have to borrow a body, it doesn't make it any less you."

"It.. Doesn't bother you..? That I could be in anyone's body..?" Blurry's brow creases. How could Josh love someone whose form is always changing? Who could look different every time they kiss? Wouldn't he want someone more stable than that..?

"Babe, I love you for you." He assures him. "Your always stunning looks are just an added bonus." Josh kisses him again, trying to make sure he knows he's loved. "And if you still want your own body, we can ask Patrick or Dallon to see if they would know any way for that to be possible."

Blurry gives it thought, but ends up shaking his head. "I don't.. Don't think I could handle having my own body like you or Ty.." It's a lot of work, and he wouldn't be a legal person, and he'd have to deal with social interactions all the time with no out, and just.. No thank you. "And if you swear it doesn't bother you.." Blurry pauses and then kisses Josh lovingly. "Then.. Then I guess I'm okay with this."

"I'm okay with this." Josh smiles against his lips, giving him another kiss. "You're perfect no matter who you look like."

"Th-thanks, Joshie.." Blurry nuzzles him gently and moves to rest his head on the alien's chest. Josh is too good to be true, but here he is. And he loves him. He doesn't understand how, but he loves him. And Blurry's almost 100% sure he loves him back. He's still a bit iffy on whether he knows how to love or not, but Tyler says he does and Josh seems to agree. So. This is good. He's pretty happy.

The movie ends after a bit, but neither of them want to go and turn off the tv, so it stays on the menu select screen for a while. The two of them just stay snuggled against each other, perfectly content being like this. Josh breaks the silence with a quiet, "I love you BF."

Blurry smiles at the sound, still totally amazed. He waits a little bit before responding. "I love you too, Joshie."

Josh gives him another kiss, just so happy and so in love. Blurry loves him too. It's amazing, it's wonderful, and he's so happy about that. "I love you." He repeats.

Bee giggles a little. "You already said that," he tells him quietly, then pecks him on the lips, snuggling close.

"I know." Josh smiles again and kisses him once more. "Just making sure you know that."

Tyler tells Bee that he's heading to sleep and to tell Josh goodnight from him. It's also an excuse so Blurry can feel more comfortable knowing he isn't being watched by Tyler.

 _"Alright, night Ty. I'll probably be there kinda soon."_ Bee sends him with a smile as he kisses Josh's cheek. "Ty says he's going to bed. I'm kinda tired too." They can fall asleep on the couch, he supposes. He doesn't really want to cram into a bunk with Josh. The couch is much more comfortable.

"Sleep well Tyler." Josh smiles and keeps Blurry close. "We can sleep out here, I'm sure no one will mind." He kisses his forehead, wanting to make sure he's comfortable here with him.

"You're comfortable here, Joshie? Wanna get anything? A pillow? Blanket?" Blurry asks with a small giggle, nuzzling into Josh's neck gently.

"You're plenty comfy." Josh laughs a bit and snuggles against him before reaching behind the couch as best as he can manage with Blurry on his lap, managing to find a blanket and wrapping themselves up in it. He gives him another kiss, so addicted to kissing him now that he can. Blurry and Josh snuggle together for a while, Josh turning off the TV. After a little while of comfortable silence, Josh gives Blurry a gentle kiss. "Earlier.. You said years, BF? You've loved me for years?" Josh asks, a smile playing on his face.

Blurry's face turns bright red as he slowly nods. "I-I mean... I think-I think it was love..." He mumbles quietly. "I knew you were, um, v-very important..."

Josh laughs quietly, pressing a kiss to the tulpa's cheek. "I wish I had known you sooner," he tells him. "It'll never be fair that you knew me before I knew you."

"You wouldn't have wanted to know me then." Blurry laughs hesitantly. "I was a whole lot worse then than I am now.." Before he officially met Tyler and Josh, he was constantly a miserable wreck. No one to talk to, nothing in the hut besides him and his own thoughts, which were never good.

"I would have helped, BF," Josh nuzzles him gently. "You know that. You're worth it all." He would have, too. Even if Blurry had been nothing like who he is now, he would have wanted to help him. Would have wanted to make him happy.

"I would've been beyond help, Joshie." Blurry nuzzles back against him, trying his best not to dwell on those lonely days of just watching Tyler live his life. Of just laying there on the bed, unable to feel anything besides bad. He couldn't even feel if the blanket was warm or scratchy or anything. "Everything before I met you guys just felt pointless.." Blurry sighs. "The only thing I could ever do to get Tyler to notice me was to have a panic attack, or be overly depressed, mixture of both. And I'm sure Tyler hated me for that." He buries his face against Josh's chest. "That _you_ hated me for that..." He adds quietly. After all, it was him that was causing his best friend to have all of these issues.

"I couldn't have hated you, Blurry," Josh says softly. "We didn't know you were there. But we do now, and everything is better for it." Josh rubs his back gently and kisses the top of his head. "We love you. Tyler, and even Mark, in his own way. And me. Especially me. I love you so much, Blurry."

"But-but Ty gave me a name. He said I was the reason for everything bad he felt. How-how could you not hate me?" Blurry feels his heart beating a bit more, breathing quicker. No, no, not right now, not after a wonderful day like this... "You... You-you shouldn't love me or-or else I'm gonna cause b-bad things to happen to you too.."

"Hey, hey," Josh says quietly, keeping him close as he can. "You're okay, BF. You're not gonna make anything bad happen to me." He kisses his head gently. "You make me happy, Blurry, so happy." He talks as gently as he can, as genuine as he can. "You can always change your name if you want."

"But-but what if I do..." Blurry is already starting to fall off the edge, his mind going off the deep end. "I'm-I'm gonna hurt you..." Bee doesn't even consider changing his name. Tyler named him that and it's important.

"No, no," Josh coos softly, running a hand through his hair. "Baby, love, everything will be okay."

Blurry instinctively winces at the touch, shaking a bit. "J-Joshie, I'm gonna hurt you. I h-hurt Tyler all the time and-and if we're together that just means I'm gonna hurt you m-more..." Together. Why does Josh love him? There's nothing to love. Not a thing. Personality is crap, looks are subpar, what left is there? Josh doesn't really love him, does he…

Josh just holds him, keeps him close, rubbing his back gently. "Good thing I'm capable of healing, then, cause you're worth every scratch I get." He decides not to kiss him, he doesn't want to smother him when he's upset. "I love you. Nothing will change that."

Blurry shakes his head quickly. "I don't want to hurt you, Joshie... I-I'm a being made from everything bad, I shouldn't-I shouldn't even be here, I shouldn't be alive and-and-" He takes a shaky breath and buries his face against the closest thing, Josh's chest, as he starts crying. "You need b-better than me.."

Josh sighs quietly, keeping a hand on the back of Bee's head and also gently rubbing his back. "You should be alive, baby. You are alive, and my life is so much better for it. If you're bad, then I don't want any good." He switches on his alien side, thinking maybe BF would benefit from hearing some Symphonic.

"But-but you need good, Joshie.." Blurry's face stays against his chest, unaware of his change. His breathing is erratic, heart beating fast. "I'm not good. I'm not any good for you or-or anyone else. I don't have a p-purpose being out here like this and I shouldn't have ever b-been able to take control of Ty like this." His hands grip at Josh's shirt. "Ty's missing p-parts of his life because I'm taking over... L-like a parasite or something. I-I shouldn't be here Joshie I don't b-belong out here..."

"BF, shh, it's okay. Tyler wouldn't.. He wouldn't let you take his time away if he really wanted it. He loves you, baby. You deserve all the good in the world." Josh sighs softly and kisses the top of Blurry's head, sending him, "I love you so much."

"T-Ty's just trying to be nice..." Blurry mumbles, wiping his face against his chest to try and stop crying. They don't really like him... He's just a hassle, a problem that they just have to take care of. The only reason he isn't dead yet is because he's still part of Tyler's head, and him dying could cause problems for Tyler... That's the only reason. And they only try to keep him happy so he'll have less panic attacks and stop hurting Ty. That's all that this is... They-they don't actually care... Blurry's mood plummets downward quickly at his own thoughts, releasing his grip on Josh and just sitting there on his lap with his face against his chest. They don't care... So why should he? His head stays put but otherwise he’s just leaning against him. Why would any of them actually care about him? There's no reason for them to.

Josh frowns when Blurry lets go of him. "Blurry..?" His voice almost cracks. Josh can't help him, he can't fix him. "Baby, please.." He brushes his fingers through his hair gently, kissing the top of his head and sending him gentle Symphonic "I love you"s.

Blurry doesn't have much of a reaction to his attempts, staying still against him. When he hears the Symphonic again, he takes a deep breath. Does Josh really mean that? He keeps sending it, but does he mean it? Bee can hear all the emotion behind it, and he squeezes his eyes shut. No... Josh is just trying to get him to trust him. That-that should be a good thing shouldn't it? Trusting someone you're in love with? It's scary though. What if Josh really doesn't like him? He's basically given him his heart. What if Josh decides to crush it? He has the power to do that anytime he wants... "J-Josh... I'm scared." He manages to say quietly after a while, but doesn't hold onto him yet. "L-love is scary..." Josh could just say a few words and he'll either be elated or destroyed. He has so much power over him, it's terrifying. Josh affects him so much. If Josh really doesn't like him, then... Blurry wouldn't know what to do with himself.

Josh swallows loudly, taking a deep breath and then exhaling slowly. "Love is scary," Josh sends him, a musical echo of what Blurry said. Because he agrees. Completely. "But I trust you." Josh has given him his entire heart, Blurry holds the same power Josh does. He repeats himself, once simply, omitting anything that might impede Blurry's translation, and then a second time, adding in all of his emotion, his fear, his worry, and most importantly his love. "I trust you."

Blurry manages to look at Josh at hearing it a second time, feeling all the emotions behind it. "I'm-I'm going to end up breaking that trust..." Bee has absolutely no faith in himself. He knows he's going to end up doing something to ruin it all. If not today, then sometime down the road. His arms hang loosely at his sides, just feeling totally depressed still. Josh should back out before he gets too far. If it's less than a day it doesn't count right? Something like that? For his own good and safety, he needs someone other than himself, Blurry thinks, burying his face against his chest again.

Josh shakes his head in disagreement. He kisses the top of his head gently, sending, "do you love me?"

"Of course I do..." Blurry mumbles out. And isn't that the problem? Someone who isn't even supposed to exist shouldn't be able to love someone. Someone who was made of all negative personalities shouldn't be able to love someone. Blurry has no idea what to do. It's new, it's both terrifying and amazing.

"Are you sure?" Josh pries, wanting to help him realize what love means. That there's risk, but there's also joy. Josh loves him. And if Blurry can understand that he loves Josh, maybe he'll see that the benefits outweigh the risk.

Blurry nods slowly. "I love you a lot, Josh.." It doesn't change that it's still a scary concept. Trusting someone wholly, going to them for help, giving them your heart and hoping they don't crush it... It's terrifying. But, being able to be close, to have someone to laugh with, someone to be there to catch you when you fall... 

Blurry takes a shaky breath.

"I trust you, Joshua..."

 

Josh rubs his back gently, kissing the top of his head once more to send, "I won't let you down." He means it. He loves him. If it ever ends, it'll be on Blurry's part, never Josh's. He couldn't betray his trust like that. Ever.

"I know you won't..." Blurry knows he'll end up being the one to let Josh down first. But, for now, Blurry takes another breath to keep calm, giving Josh a gentle kiss, sort of to seal the deal. He does trust Josh. A whole lot. He's always trusted Josh.

"You'll stay with me?" Josh asks, kissing gently back before holding him close. He's bordering the edge of not understanding English, but the focus is worth it if it helps soothe Blurry.

Blurry nods again and holds tightly onto him once again. "Always." He closes his eyes and sighs quietly. "Always, Joshie..." Remembering how the phrase sounded, Blurry attempts to hum the 'I love you' in Symphonic, knowing it's probably so far off and not close to the phrase at all. Probably isn't even Symphonic. But he gives it a shot, hoping that Josh can get the message even if it is just single toned opposed to the wonderful sounds of Symphonic.

Josh laughs quietly when he hears Blurry's hum. It's so beautiful, in a very childlike way. "I love you too, beautiful." He sends him, letting him know he got the message. It wasn't quite symphonic, but it's a step in the right direction, and Josh knew at once what it was. Blurry's so wonderful.

Blurry smiles a bit and manages to relax some against Josh. At least he got what he was trying to say. He closes his eyes and pulls the blanket tighter around themselves. "Thank you, Josh..." He isn't sure how much English Josh can understand right now, but seeing as Symphonic is still pretty far away, that's the most he can do. He kisses Josh again, keeping his lips against his as he can't help but just keep kissing him. Josh is so nice to him. Too nice to him.

Josh warmly kisses back, glad to see Blurry's feeling better. "Always," he sends softly. "I love you always." He gets comfortable with Blurry wrapping himself around him once more, keeping his eyes closed as they rest for a bit, lip to lip, kissing until Blurry wants to stop. "Human for sleep?" Josh asks.

"Mm.." Blurry shakes his head before kissing him some more. It's easy to fall asleep to alien Josh. He knows that means Josh will have a longer time to come down from it later, but most of tomorrow is going to be spent driving anyway so Blurry isn't too worried about that causing an issue. He keeps his arms wrapped around him, part of him just wanting to stay awake kissing him over and over. It's very hard to ignore that part. But he knows that they're going to need to get some sleep.

Josh kisses him back, he always will. "Love you, Blurryface," he sends. "So very much." He wraps his arms tight around him, and when Blurry finally rests his head on his chest to sleep, he kisses the top of his head and purrs quietly.

"Love you..." Blurry mumbles out, eyes closed as he listens to Josh's purring and heartbeat. Listens to his boyfriend. His. Boyfriend. Blurry smiles a bit and snuggles closer. He's all his now. Always.   
It doesn't take long for Bee to end up falling asleep, totally asleep, Josh's arms holding him safe and sound. It'll be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> For updates and other stuff, follow our tumblr! mythomusicians.tumblr.com <3


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